#314 - Chinese Defector: 1 Billion People Have Gone Missing in China | Lei's Real Talk

Summary

Danny Jones Podcast - Episode #314 Summary

Title: Chinese Defector: 1 Billion People Have Gone Missing in China | Lei's Real Talk
Host: Danny Jones
Guest: Lei (from Lei's Real Talk)
Release Date: July 7, 2025

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Introduction to Lei and Her Mission

Danny Jones welcomes Lei to the podcast, initiating their conversation by addressing Lei's choice to keep her last name private. Lei explains that initial embarrassment over her uncommon surname in the West led her to adopt a mononym. However, she confesses a deeper reason for maintaining her anonymity: protection from the Chinese government due to her efforts in exposing governmental malpractices.

“I just want to stay private.”
— Lei [01:07]

Lei’s YouTube Endeavors: Bridging East and West

Lei describes her YouTube channels aimed at educating Western audiences about China and vice versa. Her content delves into the intricacies of the Chinese government, media manipulation, and societal issues. The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 U.S. election were pivotal in shaping her focus, pushing her to address the growing authoritarianism reminiscent of China's regime.

“I call myself the bridge between the east and West.”
— Lei [03:19]

Xi Jinping’s Waning Power and Internal Struggles

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Xi Jinping's diminishing control within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Lei provides insights into the removal of key military leaders loyal to Xi, suggesting that Xi may have already lost substantial power.

“The commission made up of seven people, he's already lost three... Xi Jinping completely lost three members out of the seven members.”
— Lei [09:57]

Danny probes Lei for evidence, leading Lei to highlight the disappearance and removal of Vice Chairman He Weidong and Admiral Miaohua, indicating internal power struggles and potential downfall of Xi.

U.S.-China Relations: Tariffs and Taiwan Conflict

The conversation shifts to the escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, particularly under Donald Trump's administration. Lei discusses the complexities of the tariff wars and China's primary focus on Taiwan, emphasizing Taiwan's strategic importance as the "first island chain."

“Strategically Taiwan is the first chain island. If the United States lose Taiwan to the mainland, to the CCP...”
— Lei [32:51]

Lei warns that the loss of Taiwan would significantly shift geopolitical power in favor of China, undermining U.S. influence across the Pacific.

Demographic Anomalies and Missing Population

One of the most alarming topics Lei addresses is the discrepancy in China's official population data. She argues that the reported figures are vastly inflated due to fake IDs and suggests that up to 1 billion people may be missing from China's population records.

“China's population never really reached 1.4 billion. In fact, it probably never reached 1 billion.”
— Lei [172:35]

Lei contends that the one-child policy and systemic corruption have led to unnatural population growth, making the official statistics mathematically impossible.

Social Credit Systems and Surveillance

Lei delves into China's extensive surveillance mechanisms and the implementation of social credit systems. She explains how digital control extends to financial transactions and personal freedoms, effectively creating a "digital prison."

“Your entire life is transparent on that app. Danny, you're confined in your digital prison.”
— Lei [146:37]

Espionage and Chinese Influence in the U.S.

Discussing espionage, Lei highlights the infiltration of Chinese networks within American institutions. She references cases like former Harvard professor Charles Lieber, illustrating how espionage extends beyond professional spies to everyday interactions, such as employing nannies with hidden agendas.

“If you're a citizen of China, it's not just as simple as saying, hey, I want to move to the United States...”
— Lei [50:09]

Persecution of Falun Gong and Organ Harvesting

Lei provides a harrowing account of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including the mass detention and alleged organ harvesting from these individuals. She emphasizes the moral atrocities committed under the guise of political control.

“People are being murdered for their organs because the government has access to everyone's biodata.”
— Lei [130:46]

Cultural Practices and Superstition in Leadership

The discussion touches on the blend of traditional Chinese cultural practices, such as feng shui and astrology, within the CCP leadership. Lei illustrates how superstitions influence political decisions and leadership behaviors.

“Xi Jinping believes in this kind of stuff. All CCP leaders believe in that.”
— Lei [152:01]

Healthcare and Population Health in China

Lei contrasts traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine, arguing that the former focuses on balance and prevention, while the latter emphasizes treatment. She points out the high cancer rates in China, attributing them to pollution and poor healthcare practices despite the ideological differences.

“China has very high incidence of cancer... pollution, water is terribly polluted, right?”
— Lei [165:35]

Closing Thoughts and Future Predictions

In concluding the episode, Lei warns of potential digital warfare and the fragmentation of the global internet into regional intranets due to escalating geopolitical tensions. She forecasts significant shifts in global power dynamics contingent upon internal struggles within China.

“The next war is not necessarily a hot war, but it may take place over the Internet.”
— Lei [155:56]

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Notable Quotes:

• “I know how to spot a Chinese spy.”
  — Lei [01:40]

• “People are being murdered for their organs because the government has access to everyone's biodata.”
  — Lei [130:46]

• “It defeats the purpose of having an Internet. It's not world-wide web, it will be regional web.”
  — Lei [96:43]

• “We are confined in our digital prisons.”
  — Lei [146:37]

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Conclusion

This episode of the Danny Jones Podcast provides a deep dive into the dark underbelly of China's political and social systems through the eyes of Lei, a Chinese defector. From questionable population statistics and extensive surveillance to human rights abuses and geopolitical tensions, Lei offers a sobering perspective on the challenges facing both China and its relationship with the West. Her insights underscore the importance of critical analysis and the need for informed dialogue on international affairs.

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Note: All timestamps correspond to the provided transcript and may reference segments including advertisements, which have been selectively included when relevant to the discussion.

Transcript

[Danny]

Le with no last name.

[Lei]

Lei. With Lei. From Lei's Real talk.

[Danny]

From Lei's Real talk, yes. And you keep your name secret from the world?

[Lei]

Well, in the beginning, you know, when I first came to this country, people don't know how to pronounce my last name. So I always got very embarrassed, you know, when I was in college, you know, you know how professors always read all the names in the. On the first day, and then when they. Whenever they get stuck, I know it's me Lay, you know, and then I know that's me.

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

So I grew up always feeling very embarrassed by my. About my last name.

[Danny]

Oh, okay.

[Lei]

Whether in Chinese or in English. In Chinese is also not a common last name, so.

[Danny]

Yeah, but that's not the real reason you hide your name. Right. You want, you don't want. You want. You don't want the Chinese government coming after you. Or are you afraid because of all this work that you're doing to expose what they're doing, they could potentially come down on you.

[Lei]

Yes, that too. I just want to stay private. Yeah.

[Danny]

Has anyone ever accused you of being a spy?

[Lei]

No. No, I don't. I don't appear. I mean, do I look like a spy?

[Danny]

No, but that would mean you're doing a great job.

[Lei]

I mean, not looking like a spot.

[Danny]

I'm also not really trained in pointing out or figuring out spies. You know what I mean? Like, I don't really. I wouldn't be able to uncover a spy if I was looking, staring, you know, at a line above people.

[Lei]

I. I know how to spot a Chinese spy.

[Danny]

You do?

[Lei]

Yeah. A professional one.

[Danny]

How did you learn how to do that?

[Lei]

Okay, well, first of all, I studied. I studied. I mean, when I was doing my YouTube programs or during my YouTube programs, I did a lot of research on Chinese spies. They look very ordinary. They're never too tall, never too short, not strikingly looking, not ugly looking either. They're just very, very ordinary to the point that even though you've met them couple of times, but when you do meet them again, you don't even remember when you last saw them. That's how ordinary they are.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

Yeah. And they don't come from, like, forgettable. Forgettable. They blend in. They don't leave a lasting impression on people. If they do, they don't qualify.

[Danny]

That would make sense.

[Lei]

That would make sense.

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

So for people who aren't familiar with you, can you tell people basically what you're doing with your YouTube channel and. And how you came to understand this all of the in and outs and nuances and happenings, like deep within the Chinese government and the regime, and even like picking apart the media that comes across, the media that's disseminated in US The US About China. And you know. You know, basically just. Just give us a rundown of what you do on your YouTube channel and the stuff that you cover and how you became came to do this.

[Lei]

Well, I've always been a person who is tenaciously curious about things. I always ask the question why? To the point that it could annoy people. And I have a passion about, you know, telling people in the west about China and also telling Chinese people about the West. I call myself the bridge between the east and West. I mean, that's a clich, right? So now, during COVID I mean, 2020 was the year that changed a lot of things. There were two things that happened that had a lasting impression on me, was first was the COVID We were all locked down. We were all at home. And the Second was the 2020 election. As someone who has lived in a totalitarian country, things didn't look normal at all in 2020. It reminded me of what we experienced in China. I remember we had a family discussion. My aunt was saying, if America is going to become like China or communist China, we have nowhere to go. I mean, we came to this country for freedom, freedom of speech and democracy, but it seems like that's fleeting. So that was. That was the time when. When I was really thinking about what can I do about it. Right. And it was very random because I'm not even. I was never a person interested in politics or geopolitics. Last thing on my reading list.

[Danny]

Never really.

[Lei]

No. But then, you know, once you're curious about the whys, then you start looking. And I think the decision to. To become a YouTuber was totally random. Someone mentioned it to me, you know, once, and another person mentioned it to me, and I said to myself, well, if there's a third person telling me that I should, you know, do something, you know, to have my own channel, I would do it. I even. I remember it was Wednesday, and I said, if I hear this from a third person by Friday, I would do it.

[Danny]

Did you have no experience in journalism or media or anything like that before you started posting on YouTube?

[Lei]

No. I mean, a little bit. I. I worked for a Chinese American TV network, you know, but it was more of a marketing and outreach, you know, pr kind of a role, event kind of a role, not so much journalism. So. Yeah, but I always say There's a gap, a huge gap between information that's available in Chinese language media landscape or social media landscape versus what's available in English speaking world? There's so much more available to us. Some are truth, some are half truths, some are lies, some are rumors. But they're all out there and some are citizens own discussions amongst themselves about what's happening in China. They're all out there. So if you spend enough time, you know, deciphoning and then organizing them and analyzing them, then you inevitably will see the, you know, truth. But the west or the Western speaking or the Western world doesn't have access to that. And so that's where I come in to fill that void or to bridge that disconnect.

[Danny]

So are you able to read and translate all of the media that is transmitted within China from the US or is there stuff that we cannot access here from.

[Lei]

I mean, of course you read the state media, I mean state media propaganda. So you know what, they're trying to push their narratives. And then you listen to these pro democracy media personalities or social media influences, they tell you something that's very different.

[Danny]

Oh, they have their own social.

[Lei]

They have, yes, yeah, these are the most outspoken people, but they are based in the west so they are free to say, to express themselves. And then you also have the Chinese people on social media telling you about what's going on. So there's just, you know, a wide variety of information out there that becomes the sources.

[Danny]

So what's happening right now but in China, what is at the top of your list right now that you think is the most, most shocking thing or is there anything right now that you, that you can see happening or foresee happening in the near future between China and Russia? I mean, China and the US Especially when it comes to Trump now coming into office and you have the tariffs that he's implementing and, and you have the, the conflict with Taiwan and Taiwan obviously that you've stated on many of your videos, I think is the top of China's to do list. They care more about Taiwan than anything. What do you, what do you see happening right now and what do you predict is going to play, how this whole Taiwan tariff situation is going to play out?

[Lei]

Well, there are a lot of things happening in China right now. People worry that a war will break out in the Taiwan Strait because that has always been a top priority for the ccp. People also worry about the tariff war, how that impacts not only US China relations, but the whole world, the geopolitics and also China's economy, because if it further deteriorates, people are going to revolt. Because when people don't have money to feed themselves, they're going to go after the government, the officials. But what I think is the most pressing issue, or the most. The biggest variable, shall we say, that has not been getting enough attention in the west, is the fact that Xi Jinping is losing power and losing power very quickly. In fact, he might have already completely lost power. He's only a figurehead. He's only a puppet, you know, Although I can't say that for sure. You know, I don't. But that seems like it's going in that direction faster than we have anticipated.

[Danny]

And what makes you say this? What evidence do you have for this?

[Lei]

Okay, well, the most obvious evidence is his control over the military. You know, in the Chinese Communist regime, he who controls the gun, controls the regime. Right? That has always been the case. But of the seven Central Military Commission, the seven members, I mean, the commission made up of seven people, he's already lost three, you know, I mean, removing himself, there are only three left. And then the three left are not his people. You know, how they have different factions. So Xi Jinping completely lost the three members out of the seven members.

[Danny]

So after him, there's six left, and he's lost three of the six right.

[Lei]

And he lost two most important military leaders who are loyal to him. That's the second vice chairman of Central Military Commission, He Weidong, who is responsible for the Taiwan operations. You know, if a war breaks out, Vice chairman, he would be the person responsible for that. And that man has. Is gone. And then the second person who's extremely powerful in the military is the man in charge of personnel, who's an admiral, Admiral Miaohua. He's in charge of the political work. You know, by political work, it means he does all the political vetting of all the officers, right? So he's in charge of personnel. That man is also gone.

[Danny]

What do you mean when you say gone?

[Lei]

Well, they're. They're removed from their position. I mean, in the case of Admiral Meow Hua, he's officially announced he's removed from his post due to corruption. I mean, they never say the real reason, but it's always corruption.

[Danny]

And who are the people removing them?

[Lei]

This is the government, the central authorities. In the case of the vice chairman, he. The man has been missing since March, and there are so many rumors about him being arrested, investigated. And the latest rumor is that he has died. You know, there are just so many. And it didn't came from one source. Because if it came from one source, you could say, well, maybe that's, you know, just one source. But it has come from various sources. And some people say that he committed suicide, other people say he was executed. So you, you know, but everyone agrees, regardless whether the man is alive or dead, everyone agrees that he's gone, he's removed from his post because it's abnormal that he has not been seen for two and a half months. You know, given his position that where is he if he's alive? You know, one thing that's very easy for Xi Jinping to do is just show him off. Well, there he is.

[Danny]

So who are the people pointing this out? Because I would imagine if you're the media in China and you start saying, oh, they, they whacked this guy to overthrow Xi Jinping, I don't imagine that's looked up to and by the Chinese government. I imagine that you would be removed from your post if you were the media reporting on this.

[Lei]

Right, right. So that brings the next question, who removed these people? So the views are divided. So some people believe it's Xi Jinping himself removing his own people, but more and more people believe it's Xi Jinping's enemies removing his loyalists. Okay. And I tend to agree with the second camp. It is Xi Jinping's enemies removing his loyalists one by one from the military. And they're getting closer, closer to him.

[Danny]

And who are his enemies within China?

[Lei]

Okay. Literally it's almost everyone.

[Danny]

Oh really?

[Lei]

Because he has, because he has alienated so many people.

[Danny]

Steve, is that your phone? No, that's not mine. Do you have your phone with you? Oh, I think it's Danny. That's okay.

[Lei]

Let me, let me turn it off.

[Danny]

Yeah, yeah. No, no, you'll just to put it on silent. Yeah, yeah. There you go.

[Lei]

Where were we?

[Danny]

Who, who are his.

[Lei]

Let me take a sip of water.

[Danny]

You were saying that, yeah, yeah, you were saying that everybody in China opposes Xi, from the, the population to the military to the other high ranking politicians.

[Lei]

Well, I mean people, everyone suffered during COVID lockdowns. I mean people have seen those videos where people were literally locked down at home for months.

[Danny]

You know, did you see the videos of those cats on the side of the road in China? Like all these house cats like in a giant net or a bag on the side of the road. Crazy.

[Lei]

There are people who literally died from hunger because, because of lockdowns. And these are not people in villages, in rural villages, they're in high, you know, fancy Apartments in Shanghai.

[Danny]

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[Lei]

Today, there are expatriates living in China and working for multinational companies that were.

[Danny]

Not allowed to get access to food because they weren't allowed to leave their apartments.

[Lei]

Right.

[Danny]

That's so crazy.

[Lei]

You know, I mean, Shanghai is like New York. People don't stock up food at home. They always eat out.

[Danny]

Right? Right. Do you know how many people starved like that during COVID Yeah, like in their apartments because they. They couldn't go get food, they couldn't leave, they couldn't order food or anything like this.

[Lei]

I know there were a lot, you know, because I. I've seen videos where people. The first thing they did in the morning when they woke up is trying to buy food online. I mean, the way they bought Food is online. You have to bid, you have to like, grab. You have to fight to. Because there's only so much quantities to. To supply everyone. So you have to can kind of just fight to, To. To be the first hundred bids, right? Yeah.

[Danny]

So again, everybody across the board in China, in the political establishment and in the military establishment, opposes Xi.

[Lei]

Yes.

[Danny]

What are the primary reasons for this?

[Lei]

Well, I, I shouldn't say everyone. Of course, he has his own followers, right? There's in, in CCP politics, there's Xi Jinp faction. He has certain people in the military and in civilian government who are loyal to him. But those people, even though these people are loyal to him, it doesn't mean that these people don't have their own independent mind or thinking. But the majority of them are fed up. Why? Well, there were several events. One is the death of the former premier, Li Keqiang, who died in October two years ago. I think it was 20, 23.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

He died mysteriously. Many people believe Xi Jinping finished him, okay? Because the, the man was healthy, he was only his 60s, and he, he was swimming and he died mysteriously. Now, you know, CCP officials, their bodyguards and their medical services are, I mean, they are well taken care of. You know, there's no way he would die while swimming, right? I mean, his guard will first see him struggling in the water in the swimming pool.

[Danny]

This guy's a big shot.

[Lei]

He's a former premier. He's like the prime minister.

[Danny]

So he's got full security all the time.

[Lei]

All the time. And also the hotel he stayed in had medical. They had like all these emergency medical, you know, establishment at the hotel, at the guest house. But when they tried to rescue him, they sent him to. Not a hospital known for cardiology, but they sent him to a Chinese medicine hospital. Why? And then it was further away from the hospital that's closer to the hotel that are known for its cardiology. So there's just so many suspicions around his death. And when that happened, it really sent shockwaves across the establishment, the political establishment, because people think, well, if he could die, right? The second man, the one, the second man in the government who was a scholar, I mean, the man was harmless. He was, he didn't even have ambition, right? So that, that was the turning point.

[Danny]

So let me ask you this. If, If Xi was successfully removed from power, you know, there's, there's the idea that sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. So if Xi was purged, who would. He would, who would he be replaced by who? Who were the potential candidates he could be replaced by? And would you be remotely optimistic about that? Do you think that would push China in a new direction? Do you think it would be beneficial for the population? What are your thoughts on that?

[Lei]

I think you brought up a very good point. I think whoever succeeds Xi Jinping, I would say Hu Jinping, who is he, may not necessarily steer China in the right direction as long as the communist regime stays in place. Because what's corrupting, what's making everything fail, is not just Xi Jinping, but rather it's the political system, it's the communist ideology and the establishment. It's this absolute control over everyone, over everything, that's killing China. So as long as that system stays and you put in a new, you put a Wang Jinping or, you know, another one, it will be maybe even worse. So it's. I don't really see him as the problem. He's the product of the system. You know, he became the way he is now after 12 years in power. And 12 years ago, he wasn't like that. He wasn't this bad. He wasn't the dictator he is today. But by the same token, you put another person in his position for another 10 years, China could be in a much worse situation than what it is today. So I don't think it's him. But he has a handicap, that is he does not have a successor. He feared to name a successor because as a dictator, dictator never feel comfortable of naming a successor. Because. Because what if that successor becomes more popular than you are? And also that person could be ruined because people will start to, should we say kiss up to that person? Right? Because they say, well, that guy is going to be next in line, so I'd better take care of him. You know where this, the old guy is on his way, right? So that's. So they, they never, like Mao had three successor. I mean, he took out three of them. You know, Dunn had two and he took out both. So, so she didn't never had a successor. But that becomes his handicapped because that becomes an excuse used by his political enemies to say, we can't have that. We can't have a system that if you get sick one day and then so, you know, so goes the system.

[Danny]

Now, what do you think the, what is your view of the relationship between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump and some of the talks? I know there was some miscommunication or different stories being told from different sides between Trump's administration and Xi Jinping side to the American media, to. If they've had talks, if they haven't had talks about the tariffs, about Taiwan. What is your view on all that?

[Lei]

I should say that the Xi Jinping, well, their relationship during Trump's first term was different from their relationship now because at the time, Xi Jinping was more in control of the Chinese regime. But I should say Trump wasn't fully pushing his agenda at the time. Right during his first term. So the two are now in a different position politically within their own country. I think Trump is more determined to change, I don't know, for lack of a better term, to change China or he doesn't like the way China is. He does not like to deal with the China the way it is today. But Xi Jinping is not the man who he dealt with five, five years ago, I don't know, eight years ago. So that relationship from his first term, I think is becoming meaningless because everything has changed. I think the Trump administration should think about who's the next person, how they're going to deal with the power vacuum left by Xi Jinping.

[Danny]

You know, well, the tariff situation is interesting because for face value, the tariffs, the way they're explained is, okay, we are going to. It's a, it's a money revenue generator, obviously, from one lens. But from another lens, which I think is the lens that Trump is looking through it through is soft power, right? You have a, you have leverage to control other countries and the economics, for example, like, so if he is going to lay these tariffs on all these countries, it's, it's an artificial inflation placed on these countries, saying like, it's a lever of soft power to where they can say to Trump, can say to other countries, stop buying all of your tech from China and we will lift these tariffs. And, and you know, you can see that from other examples how we are putting these tariffs on China for certain things, but not for other things that we have. We don't have any infrastructure. And I'm curious to see how that is going to play out with Taiwan, because it seems like Xi has pretty much rolled over on all the tariff stuff and has come to the table to negotiate with Trump to some degree. Am I right about this?

[Lei]

I think China hasn't really started negotiating with Trump yet.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

We haven't really seen. I mean, we know the two sides agreed to start negotiating. Right? That's what they, that, that's what the meeting in Geneva was all about.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

And they gave themselves 90 days. What's interesting to me is I don't Think there's, There's going to be any meaningful dialogue from now until they sort out who is going to set the economic directions for China, not until they settle down this power struggle internally in Beijing. We're not going to see anything meaningful coming out of any negotiations with China because you can reach an agreement with Xi Jinping. But what if he's out the next month?

[Danny]

Right. Well, there's also this dynamic. So there was a recent election in Taiwan. Right. And I think in January.

[Lei]

It was last year. What was it?

[Danny]

Was it last year?

[Lei]

It was last year, yeah.

[Danny]

Oh, okay. I thought that was just this January.

[Lei]

No, it was a year ago.

[Danny]

So. So China basically won over the parliament, I guess, the pro China side, but the president was part of the separatist side.

[Lei]

Right.

[Danny]

So China has. Has bought time there because the president won't be able to get anything done while the parliament is pro China or controlled by China. Right. So is it true that China is trying to get. Has been trying to get the United States to come out and basically disavow their support for Taiwan, remaining sovereign and independent?

[Lei]

That's one of Xi Jinping's tactics. Yeah, because he understands the, the risk, the consequences of a real military confron confrontation with the United States. So he favors a soft takeover, that is having Taiwanese politicians agree to the terms that China sets. Right. So then he said, well, then the United States hands are tied because you can't do anything. If the Taiwanese officials say, we want to be part of China, then there's no war. Then what can the US Do? Nothing.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

So that's why they have spent so much effort, so much money trying to infiltrate Taiwanese government, buying loyalties from these members of Parliament, these officials, and the infiltration into Taiwanese government. You know, it happens on both sides. You know, it's not just one party, but on both sides. Yeah, but it's unfortunate that the. I think they don't call themselves. It's not House Speaker. I don't know what they call the president of Legislative Yuan, which is like the. The House speaker, the equivalent of House Speaker. That man is very pro Beijing, unfortunately. Yeah, he's very pro in Taiwan. Yeah. So he has blocked some of the laws that they're trying to pass. You know, so he's trying to make President William Lai's job very difficult.

[Danny]

And I would assume, again, I'm not well versed on this or super. I haven't done a ton of research on it, but I would. I would assume that. Obviously, I don't think Trump gives a shit about the land of Taiwan or the country of Taiwan. Or as bad as it is to say I don't think he gives a shit about the people of Taiwan. I think he gives a shit about the semiconductors and the technology that is exported by Taiwan. Would you agree with that? It's summertime boys, and you know what that means. The second you step outside, sweat is going to be on you like the morning dew. And the Florida humidity does not help. I've become a human petri dish of stench. If you've been struggling with the heat and humidity like I have, I have great news. Today's sponsor Mando has just launched something that takes sweat control to the next level. Introducing Mando Deodorant plus Sweat Control Solid Stick. It's double protection. Finally you can kick the sweat and smell good doing it. This has been a godsend for me because the Florida heat. I can't even walk through the parking lot to my truck without breaking a sweat. Plus I can now use the treadmill at the gym without making the lady next to me vomit. This ain't your typical deodorant, folks. It's clinical strength. Two times more effective at controlling sweat. And it kicks sweat and odor for up to 72 hours. Even after 12 hours, sweat was still reduced by 92%. Mando is known for using premium ingredients like gentle mandelic acid. Mando deodorant plus sweat control solid stick. Don't wait. Get [e-mail] and experience double protection today. Mando Starter pack is perfect for new customers. It comes with Solid Stick Deodorant Cream Tube Deodorant. Two free products of your choice like mini body wash and deodorant wipes and free shipping. And as a special offer for our listeners, new customers can get 20% off site wide with our exclusive code. Use code [e-mail] for 20% off sitewide plus free shipping. That's S H-O-P-M-A-N D O.com and use the promo code-A N N Y. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. Mando's got you covered with deodorant plus sweat control. Say goodbye to sweat stains and hello to long lasting freshness.

[Lei]

I think he does care about the land because strategically Taiwan is the first chain island. If the United States lose Taiwan to the mainland, to the ccp, the, the, the Pacific, the then the US would have to concede half of the Pacific to to the ccp. And that's exactly what the CCP wants. In Beijing's mind, they want to divide their influence in the middle of. In the middle of Pacific. Right? China controls the east or the west half of Pacific, whereas the US Controls the. The east half of Pacific. So that means the U. S. Influence, like in. In the Korean Peninsula, even Japan, you know, all the way down the Philippines. All of that will be lost to China, you know, when the US Loses Taiwan.

[Danny]

Just because of Taiwan.

[Lei]

Yes, because if you look at the geo, can you pull up a map.

[Danny]

Steve, so we can get a visual for Taiwan, China and that area?

[Lei]

The first island chain. You know, Taiwan is the weakest link in the first island chain. And then if right now the CCP doesn't have any breakthrough, but that will be.

[Danny]

Can you zoom out?

[Lei]

Okay, you see all from Japan all the way down. You see this natural geography line, right? Whereas Taiwan is in the middle and goes down to the Philippines. That's the first island chain. Okay, Right now to the east, that's us.

[Danny]

Oh, okay.

[Lei]

Okay. So if China takes over Taiwan, China.

[Danny]

Controls the Philippine Sea. Right? Right there to the right. They don't.

[Lei]

Well, if basically, the first island chain.

[Danny]

The US has significant influence, so China doesn't go. They don't go outside. I mean, I'm sure they have subs and battleships that patrol all of that. Right.

[Lei]

China's biggest. Other than the Taiwan Strait, the second place of contention is the South China Sea. Okay, that's. That's also a second place where people worry that war can break out.

[Danny]

Okay, yeah, interesting.

[Lei]

So Taiwan is significant. If the United States loses Taiwan, the US Is not going to be this, you know, a superpower in the world. China will very likely become. It will give China or the CCP all the credits to claim to be a superpower on par with the U.S. so China, U.S. yeah.

[Danny]

Isn't China primarily interested in Taiwan for the economic value and the technology?

[Lei]

Economic value, Technology, yes. Those are the two reasons. But there is a political reason. Because. For. For claiming legitimacy to rule China. Because the ccp, the Communist Party, really isn't legitimate.

[Danny]

Because you said it's not.

[Lei]

It is not. Because think about it. When the Qing Dynasty emperor abdicated, right, or conceded authority to the Republic of China, the lineage goes from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. ROC. Now, when the CCP came over and established the Republic, the PRC, the People's Republic of China, they never completely eliminated ROC. So ROC still exists today in Taiwan, and ROC has existed since 1912, much longer than the PRC. So how can you claim legitimacy to rule when your Ancestor still exists. You see what I'm saying?

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

You never completely got rid of the country called Republic of China before you, and they still exist. They exist in Taiwan. So the CCP worries about its legitimacy to rule China, and that's why it's so determined and eager to get rid of the Republic of China. Because Republic of China is 112, 113 years old and the PRC is only 70 years old. Right. So who is. Whose motherland? See, CCP always love to use that term, motherland. Their motherland is Taiwan. Beijing's motherland is Taiwan. You know, if you look at it. If you look at it from a chronological order, you know, the Taiwan government is the ancestor of CCP.

[Danny]

Sometimes I forget that this culture is, what, like, over 5, 000 years old. I had. I have a. There's a gentleman who I've had on this podcast many times who was allegedly. Well, he was a. A spy working for the CIA, and allegedly he could have been stationed in and around China. And he was explaining that there's, like, old buildings, like mills, that are twice the age of the United States of America. There's buildings, just little old shacks that are. That are multiple times the age of the United States. Yeah. So it's like a crazy way to compare the land and the culture and, you know, that civilization, how far it goes back, it's pretty. It's pretty bananas when you think about it.

[Lei]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Danny]

And then there was also something else that we briefly mentioned before we started the show, but there was something that happened with the. There was a recent adjustment to the population of China. Right. Because when they were. The way I understand it is when. The way the Chinese government does census on their population is when the doctor. There's no birth certificates. So the way I understand it is when the doctor comes to first give a child his vaccinations, that's one way. Or when a child gets admitted to primary school, that's another way. That's usually not until they're like four or five maybe. Is that correct? Or are you aware of.

[Lei]

Well, I know that the Chinese population data has been massaged by so many people.

[Danny]

Right. Well, for so long, I'm sure the education system, they get subsidized by the government. Right. So they want to. They want to inflate that number of people that they have.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Danny]

To earn more money.

[Lei]

There was once, I think in. That was in 2013, there was an effort by the Ministry of Public Security to kind of. To scrub their population data so they Organized half million police across the country to conduct. They went through the population data. They found 350 million fake IDs from their 1.3 billion population database over 48 hours. It was an effort. Within two days, they deployed half million policemen across the country to scrub the data. They found 350 million fake IDs out of 1.3 million, 1.3 billion people. And this was actually documented. This whole effort was actually on the website of the Ministry of Public Security. They later took it down because it was too much information because that's what, quarter of China's population, right?

[Danny]

Yeah, it's the 0.3. Right. Of the 1.3 billion.

[Lei]

Yeah, yeah. So that was that. And also in 2013, if you look at the official census data China had, I think was 260 million kids or children, school age children, 260 million. However, if you look at going to your point about vaccines, according to vaccine data, only 100 million children from 8 months old to 16 years old had vaccination or how many? Hundred million, 100 million. So assuming it was an annual event. So they were saying that there's this huge discrepancy. You had 260 million students, but you only have 100 million children from 8 month old to 16 years old. Not everyone in this bracket is student because the 8 month old doesn't go to school. So how could you have so fewer people, so fewer children getting vaccines when you have so many students? Well, the answer is the local governments inflate their student population to get funding from the central government. So. But if you look at the discrepancies, it's huge. We're, you know, it's like 100 million versus 260 million. You know, I mean, it's crazy.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

But that's why China's population data, the census data is just convoluted.

[Danny]

Yeah. And I'm sure it takes a while for it to catch up. Right. Because it's gonna have. If the census data is. If they're taking census data on people after they enter school, I'm not sure when they typically do it. Like, do they do it at the beginning? Do they do it.

[Lei]

Well, supposedly when a kid is born, you need to register, you know, with the local police bureau. So they get an id, Right. You get a household id. Like here we have a Social Security number right there. You get an id. So the kid is in the system. Right. And then you get vaccinations, you know, stuff like that. But the person should exist in the system. But birth certificates can be bought. Hospitals sell birth certificates for profit. Doctors sell that. You could get fake IDs.

[Danny]

Why would they do this? Why would people do this?

[Lei]

To buy real estate. Sometimes to just to get a fake. Just to have a fake ID to buy real estate. Or for example, my kid is born in a rural area, right? And I want my kid to be able to go to school in Beijing or Shanghai in the large cities. But I can't go there because of this household registration system. You can't move around to go to school in another city if you are in this local. So what I want to do is buy a fake ID for my kid in Shanghai or Beijing. A fake ID so that later when he or she is older, he or she can go to school there. Wow, you know, if I have the money, all you need is money.

[Danny]

What is the penalty for being busted for doing this?

[Lei]

If everyone is doing it, how can you. Who are you going to punish?

[Danny]

So, yeah, you're right. That's a lot of people, right?

[Lei]

And usually the people who are doing this are the ones with money and they use money to take care of everything.

[Danny]

How many fake IDs did you say that?

[Lei]

There's a lot.

[Danny]

You said it was a couple Hundred million.

[Lei]

350 million.

[Danny]

Jesus.

[Lei]

Out of 1.3 billion people.

[Danny]

That is bananas. That, that if that's happening to some degree at that level, and I'm sure you can't. I mean, that takes a long time to a 300 million fake ideas that, that is a symptom of a very deep rot within.

[Lei]

Okay, that 350 million does not include people who have died and whose IDs still exist in the system. Those are only fake IDs, meaning the person never exists. Or duplicate IDs, I should say, you know, you have one person having two IDs, sure, that's duplicate IDs, but this does not include people who are 150 years old who are still in the system and the children are still collecting social benefits.

[Danny]

Right? Right.

[Lei]

Yeah. Or people who have migrated to us. Who, who, who's still getting benefits in China.

[Danny]

Yeah, there's the fact that that exists. I mean, that's a huge, a huge problem and a symptom to a, a huge institutional problem. Like why would they not allow somebody born in a rural area to go work in a metropolitan area or in a different city?

[Lei]

Well, it's in. Because if that happens, then no one wants to live in the rural area. Right? I mean, that's the whole quote unquote, beauty of communism from the perspective of the CCP leaders, they control where everyone lives. They control how much money you make, they control what job you do. They control everything. In the old days, they even control who you date, who you marry. They control every aspect of people's life.

[Danny]

Are you still in contact with, with people that live in China?

[Lei]

Unless it's my direct family, no. I try not to contact them because it could get them into trouble.

[Danny]

What do you have any understanding of what is the sentiment of the general population of China in regards to the government there? Like, what is the general feeling towards the government?

[Lei]

It's very mixed. I think people in general don't like the things that are happening around them, but depends on who they are. They may or may not understand the root cause of that. For example, I have a cousin who is a very nice, very nice guy, but he believes that his misery is caused by the United States because of the government propaganda. Because the government say you are losing your job or you are not making enough money because of the United States is making everything more difficult for us because the United States sees us as a threat there are making things more difficult. So people believe that they don't realize it's the government's bad policy, you know.

[Danny]

Right. And is there any sort of like political binary divide there? Like there is here in the US between like left and right politics.

[Lei]

There's here, we have a left and right, there is all over. There are different factions, so it depends on. There are different interest groups. So right now there's the Xi Jinping faction. Right. And then there are the princeling factions. These are the second or third generations of the party, the founders of ccp. Right. They are the red prince and princes because they were born into these red families. So these are the privileged Chinese.

[Danny]

Okay, okay.

[Lei]

We call them the princelings.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

So they are one faction. They feel they're entitled.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

And they control almost every industry of China. They say 500 Chinese CCP families control all of Chinese industries.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

Yeah, so there's that these people may not be in the government. They're not holding any government officials. Most of them don't hold government officials, but they are formidable. They are a formidable force. And then you have other faction like the reformist faction, which are more friendly to the west, who are more reform minded and they. So they're different interest groups fighting for control right now.

[Danny]

And as far as like, I know you said you've done research on this, you might not have any like direct experience, but like, what is the level of when you Talk about things like espionage or spies, spies here versus spies there. Do you have any understanding of like the level of spy or undeclared Chinese influence in the U.S. i know we talked about briefly that there's. Before we started that there's these police stations here in the US that I think just got busted where China is trying to regulate the Chi, the Chinese American population here.

[Lei]

Well, this is one area I think the United States government needs to pay attention to because the Chinese government has a long arm into the internal affairs of the of American society. They have very good control of the Chinese American communities here. You know, a lot of Chinese read Chinese newspapers, but these newspapers are run by people who are loyal to the CCP and also many Chinese. When they left China to come here, you know, the State Security talked to them. You know, they had. Some of them have to agree to being eyes and ears for the. Really before, before they come. Yeah, yeah. A lot of them are, you know, they're not professional spies. These are not the professional spies. The ones that I told you at the beginning, the very ordinary looking, those are the professional spies.

[Danny]

So if you're a citizen of China, it's not just as simple as saying, hey, I want to move to the United States, fill out some paperwork, bada bing, bada boom, you're on a plane.

[Lei]

To the U.S. you, you do that. But if, if the, the State Security MSS Ministry of State Security is interested in you, they will talk to you. They say, well, you're on your way to the U.S. how many people do.

[Danny]

You think that's happening to?

[Lei]

It's quite common. I, I know someone who were like that. I know, I know that I used to have a nanny who I suspect is one of them.

[Danny]

A nanny?

[Lei]

Yeah, my. Someone who was a living nanny who.

[Danny]

You hired to watch your kids.

[Lei]

Right. Through a friend. I mean, she was not a total stranger.

[Danny]

And what made you think she was a spy?

[Lei]

Oh, I, A couple of weeks after we hired her, she. I have friends calling me saying that Lei, you'd better not use her. I said why? She we think she's a spy. And immediately I called the woman who introduced her to me, you know, because she was not a stranger I hired, you know, from, from, from the street or from nowhere. Yeah, it was through a friend. But the friend said, I don't think so because my friend knows this woman's brother and, and, and sister in law. Okay. She said, I don't think she's a spy. So I still don't know if she is a Spy or not, but she has all the strange behaviors of a spy. For example, she called up my neighbor one day and asked how much it costs to take a cab. And my neighbor asked, well, it depends on where you want to go. So where do you want to go? And she wouldn't tell her. And then my neighbor goes, well, why don't you just ask Lei if you need a ride to go somewhere? I'm sure Lei will give you a ride. And she didn't say anything. So my neighbor told me, say, your nanny is weird. She called us and asked us how much it costs to take a cab, and she wouldn't tell us where she wants to go. And then there was another time when I remember it was cold. It was in New England, so it was cold at the end of October, maybe in early November, it was dark and cold. She decided to take a walk with my daughter, who was very young at the time. I was like, why do you want to walk so late at night? Right? It was a little strange. I didn't say anything. So at the end of the walk, I asked my daughter, I said, well, what did you talk about during the walk? So my daughter said her name was Angie. You know, she said, oh, we walked around the neighborhood. And Angie just wants to know where everyone lived. Everyone lives. Because I have a lot of friends in the neighborhood.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

You know, I mean, there were kids, you know, I mean, the families, we, you know, party together, you know, do the birthday parties together. It was all for the kids. So they come to my house. We go to their houses. So she wants to know where everyone lives in the neighborhood. Of course she knows my friends. Right? But she would do that. She would get the kid walk with her late at night to tell her. And I don't even know how she got their phone numbers.

[Danny]

And introducing herself to your neighbors.

[Lei]

Right? Because I never. She never asked me to get phone numbers.

[Danny]

How old was she then?

[Lei]

I think she was in her early 30s.

[Danny]

Oh, okay. Interesting.

[Lei]

Maybe late 20s.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Yeah. You know, and then she. I think what really got. She has two names, you know, she has. She. I started calling her by her real name, the name on her id, and she got really upset. You know, she want. She wants me to call her other name. And I said, but that's your real name. What's wrong with calling you that? That's you. She got so mad. She was furious. Was. Was inappropriate. And then I said, okay, that's it, you know? Yeah.

[Danny]

So how old were you when you moved here from China?

[Lei]

I was.

[Danny]

Were you born here?

[Lei]

No, I came here when I was 17.

[Danny]

When you were 17?

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Okay. And for people that aren't familiar, what was the, the history there like, how did you end up coming here? What were your parents doing?

[Lei]

Oh, I didn't came here because I wanted to come here. I had no idea what America was. It was more of my parents choice. My parents especially my father was very adamant about getting me and my sister out of China because he was, he lost hope. My father was detained for his outspokenness during the difficult years of China. I remember when I was, I mean, my father, I see him, I mean he's very outspoken. He's still very outspoken.

[Danny]

When you say difficult years, what years are you talking about specifically?

[Lei]

I mean the post cultural revolution era before the, the reforms and opening up. Okay, yeah. So he was very outspoken and he was detained. He was a, he was a. He and my mom taught at colleges. They taught architecture at college, at a college. And he was detained for over a year for whatever trouble he was in. And I remember late at night, you know, when he was detained, I mean they, he was allowed to send his clothes home every season or every change of season. I remember my, you know, seeing my mother and my grandmother, you know, unsew his winter jacket, his winter coat to find the tiny rolled up letters he wrote. He sold his letters into his heavy winter coat. You know, they did it at night, they took it apart and they found this tiny little paper rolled up and then they read it. That's how they communicated. I remember that very well. I also remember, I remember once my grandmother took me for a walk. She knew where my dad was locked up.

[Danny]

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[Lei]

It was in a classroom in the school on campus. And so she. It was during summer, so the windows were open. So she took me. We were on the street outside her cell, or I mean his cell, his room. And she was yelling at me. My grandmother was yelling at me, saying my name so loud that my dad could hear it. And then she put me on a pile of sand or construction materials and she was yelling at me. And then she was pretending she was tying my shoes. And she said, did you see him? Did you see him? I just looked. I mean, I was so young. I just. She said, look, look at that window. I just looked like there was a wall. Behind the wall there was a. A building. And the windows were all covered up, but the top about a foot was left open. I saw a man's face, you know, peeking out from behind the window, looking at me and waving at me. I said, I suppose that's my dad, you know. So I said, yes, I saw him. I. I remember that scene very well. Yeah.

[Danny]

How old were you again?

[Lei]

Oh, I was very. I don't even know. I was like probably three.

[Danny]

So he was in there for a.

[Lei]

Year, over a year.

[Danny]

And when he got out, was that he. And when he decided he wanted to.

[Lei]

I don't remember when he got out, but I also remember that we were allowed to visit him once. It was a big event. My mother and my grandmother cooked up so much food. And in the end, my grandmother didn't go because she was afraid that it would be too emotional for her. So my mother took the kids, me and my sister, maybe my Cousin was also with us. We went. It was a room full of people. They were at least like five or six of them. The officials. Well, I don't know. The guards looking after him. They were sitting on that side. It was in the room where there were bunker beds. We sat on this side of the bed. There was another bed on the other side. And we waited. We waited. And my dad show up. You know, I don't even remember what we talked about, but I remember that it was a lot of people. So it was not like a private moment where they left, you know?

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

My family together. No, it was. It was why everyone was sitting there. Yeah.

[Danny]

And you remember what it was like when you moved here, like what the process was like. And did you come here with your dad or.

[Lei]

My dad came earlier than. Than we.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

I remember when I was a little older, you know, sometimes my. When my grandmother came, my. My parents would put me in. To sleep in their. So I overheard their conversations at night. They were talking about how to get. How to get out, how to get me and my sister out. Yeah, that was one of the things they talked the most. They didn't know I was listening, but I was listening, you know, they thought of all, you know. So my father was like, I need to go, I can't stay here. So as long as he could, he came and he came here. I think four years later, me and my mother came.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

And I went to college. I went straight from Chinese high school to call U. S College here.

[Danny]

Wow. And was it. Do you remember, like, the process of, like, what it was like to. To move? Was it a shock to you? Was it. Was it. Did you notice anything?

[Lei]

I didn't do much paperwork. I think my parents did most of the paperwork, you know, college application and all of that.

[Danny]

Do you remember though, like, what your experience was like, making that transition from that culture to this culture?

[Lei]

It was hard, fear. I arrived in the US In July. I remember when my dad told me, actually before we left, my dad told my mom that he bought a house. He took out a mortgage, and then the monthly mortgage was a thousand dollars. And when I heard it, I was like. And he said the term was 30 years. He took out a 30 year mortgage, $1,000 a month. So when I converted that to Chinese yuan, I'm like, we could never pay this off for the rest of our life, you know? And then I said, you know what? I probably have to work so hard to pay off this house my dad bought because he's not going to work for the next 30 years, I had no idea how mortgage worked. So I'm like, oh, my goodness, I already have a debt to inher. But. So I came in July, and then I. I stayed at home in Massachusetts for about a month. Then my parents bought a ticket, sent me off to Indiana.

[Danny]

Oh, wow.

[Lei]

Yeah. So I was a freshman in Indiana. It was fearful. It's scary.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

Just imagine. I've never even left home. I mean, I was sent away, you know, to. I lived in the dorm. It was a freshman dorm.

[Danny]

How. How old were you when you Learned English?

[Lei]

Maybe 13. 12. 13.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

So that was before you moved?

[Lei]

Oh, yeah, I spoke. I spoke English. I enjoyed speaking English.

[Danny]

I think that's one of the things that Americans take for granted is that because we are the number one economic superpower in the world when it comes to GDP and economics, that we don't even think about when we're raising our kids, having to teach them a second language. Right. And in every other country, if you are not raising your kid with a second language, their chances of success are, like, incredibly diminished. And I imagine it's like that in China, right? Like, you have to learn English. You want your kids to learn English. Right.

[Lei]

Yeah, I, I actually, of all the.

[Danny]

Subjects, like, because if. If. Imagine if China and. And America reached an equilibrium in like, or economic parity, we would have to start teaching our kids Mandarin or whatever the dialect is. That's. That's almost unfathomable.

[Lei]

Yeah, I think speaking a foreign language is great. Yeah.

[Danny]

Yeah, totally.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Yeah. I think it's a great. Yeah, it's a. It's a great thing when you don't have to do it, but when you literally have to do it to survive. That's another story.

[Lei]

Yeah, it's. It's one thing to learn it in school and another thing to live in an environment where everyone speaks English and you have no idea what they're talking about. You know, like, I, you know, Kit Kat, I didn't even know what KitKat was until I was.

[Danny]

You guys don't have KitKats in China?

[Lei]

No.

[Danny]

Really?

[Lei]

No.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

So I was working in a bank. I was 25. You know, my co worker said to me, lei, let's take a break and go get Kit Kat. I looked at him, I said, what is KitKat? He was so shocked. He said, lei, you know, you need to stop and smell the roses. I'm like, I just didn't know what candies are. You know, I. I didn't grow up eating candy. And there's no KitKat in China. You know, and my friend, My best friend in college said I didn't even know the word ice cream until I came to Wellesley College.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

You know, but if you. If you tell American. If you tell your college friend that you don't know what ice cream is, what do you think people will think of you? Yeah, but that's what we went through. You know, I. You know, people looked at. But now today, science experiment, right. I mean, Chinese students today is a different. They're different. They know everything. I mean, they. They know ice cream. But I'm just saying, back in the days when I came, there weren't that many Chinese students. I was the only undergraduate Chinese student, a student from China, I think, in all of that campus now, I think.

[Danny]

It'S probably a majority of the. Majority Chinese, right?

[Lei]

Yeah. Of the 6,000 foreign students at Harvard, what 1,000 is from China.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

And most of them, I think, are children of government officials or. Or they're tied to the government officials one way or the other, unless they would not be. Be able to come to Harvard and ordinary.

[Danny]

Tied to American government officials.

[Lei]

Chinese government officials. The Chinese students study at Harvard. You know, they're not ordinary Chinese students. They come from privileged Chinese families.

[Danny]

Yet these people who are top government officials in China are able to read the tea leaves or see the forest for the trees, whatever analogy you want to use to realize that they're not in an optimal ideal system in China. They need to send their people to you.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Their kids, their grandkids are educated at top schools in the U.S. columbia, you know, Harvard.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

Harvard is their favorite choice. Harvard is a Chinese Party school. Not. Not Party school, like having fun Party School, but ccp. Chinese Communist Party School. Central Party School, because they have a program with the CCP to educate. The Harvard Kennedy School had a program to educate, to train CCP government officials. So they're like the Central Party School. So that's why they're so ideologically intertwined with China.

[Danny]

That's fascinating.

[Lei]

You don't even know how communist the Harvard University has become. I have a friend who went to the Kennedy School about 15 years ago. He's Chinese, and he said, this is here. The stuff I hear here is no different from the stuff you would hear in china at the CCP's Central Party School. He said this place is as communist as you can imagine. That's why they're into so much trouble right now with this US Government because it's certainly not in the best interest.

[Danny]

Of the America Isn't the, isn't Harvard? I might be wrong, but I. There was a guy you're familiar with, Charles Lieber.

[Lei]

Oh yeah, he's the, the head of the chemistry department.

[Danny]

And he was, was that at Harvard?

[Lei]

Yeah, Harvard. He was sued by the U.S. justice Department. Right. For, for Esplanade. Doing espionage work for China.

[Danny]

Yeah, exactly. He, I believe the story is he was working with two, two younger students from China and he was getting, he was caught getting paid a huge sum of money in the millions of dollars from China. And Steve, maybe you can find the actual report so we don't this up too much. But then he went to prison and I just read a report that they just let him out and China hired him full time. So now he was living in China, working there full time, and he's a, a nano biologist. Here it is. Charles Lee, but former Harvard University professor, was arrested on January 28, 2020 on charges of making false statements to U. S. Law enforcement, federal funding age and federal funding agencies about his involvement with China's Thousand Talents Plan and the Wuhan University of Technology. He was charged with lying about his affiliation with the Thousand Talent Plan and the Wuhan Wuhan University of Technology as well as failing to report income he received from Wuhan time. He was convicted on December 21, 2021 and sentenced on April 26, 2023 to time served two days in prison, two years of supervised release with six months of home confinement, fifty thousand dollar fine, blah blah blah. Since his arrest, he has been actively seeking employment in China. So this, this, there's no report here about his, the latest news of him actually getting hired full time by China and like getting a huge contract.

[Lei]

Yeah, he's, he's in China. He's not alone. I would, I wouldn't be surprised if there are more of him here in.

[Danny]

The US this doesn't also, this also mentions nothing about the foreign nationals or the Chinese nationals that came here that he was working with.

[Lei]

That's why the, the State Department announced that they're going to revoke student visas for Chinese students.

[Danny]

They did?

[Lei]

Yeah. I mean Marc Rubio just announced a few days ago that they're gonna review or revoke some student visas. No visas given to Chinese students because even they're not professional spies. But if the government asks you to do something for them while you study in the U.S. are you gonna say no?

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

Your parents still there?

[Danny]

If your parents are still there. That's an interesting dynamic. What is this, Steve? The Harvard Crimson? Ex Harvard chemist Charles Lieber Joins Chinese University. Go to the first chapter or paragraph there. Former Harvard chemistry professor Charles Lieber. Can you zoom in a little bit? Who was convicted of lying to federal authorities about his ties to China in 2011, took a new job as professor at the Chinese University last week. Wow.

[Lei]

But you know what? I think his life in China will be difficult because that doesn't necessarily, that doesn't necessarily mean that the Chinese are going to trust him.

[Danny]

You know, even if they gave him the Chinese, I'm sure they're going to be wary of his.

[Lei]

Yeah, the, the leftist Chinese are now saying that they shouldn't trust any students who studied in the west west because they could be spying for the west in China.

[Danny]

Right, right. And if you, if, if they knew any, I mean, I'm sure they know you ha. You have to anticipate that if this guy is being released from supervision from the federal government in the US and they're getting, oh, we see, the China is going to pay you this much money to come do this. Well, guess what? But now you have to spy for us when you go to China. And I'm sure that China would anticipate something like that happening.

[Lei]

So the Chinese students are really stuck because the Chinese enterprises, government agencies are not hiring Chinese students who were educated in the west for fear of espionage.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Okay. And then they're not welcomed here either.

[Danny]

So if you're, if you are a government official in China, top level big shot in China, in the government, in the ccp, and you send your child here to Harvard to work here, you're basically kissing your kid goodbye because he's never going to be allowed to come back and work in China. Right.

[Lei]

Well, if you're a big shot in the Chinese government, of course your kid is going to graduate from Harvard and then go back to China and have a, have a, have a lot easier life there, you know, and they would.

[Danny]

They wouldn't be worried about the kid.

[Lei]

Being, if, if his father, his parents, is somebody holding important positions.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

I'm talking about the students whose parents are just ordinary people.

[Danny]

Okay, Yeah, I see what you're saying.

[Lei]

You know the latest news, there was a news that went viral in China that was. There was a student who studied.

[Danny]

You all right over there, Steve? Yeah.

[Lei]

Oh, there was a student who studied, spent eight years study in the west in the US who went back to China. And this guy is extremely patriotic, quote, unquote patriotic. He even studied Marxist books when he was in the US So that he could understand the communist theories. That's how Patriotic. That's how pro CCP he is. So after graduation, he went back to China to continue his graduate study. Now, he got into trouble because he was. He went to Tiananmen Square for an event. It was. It was something, you know, he was. He was supposed to go there with a friend, but the friend didn't show up. While there, he was detained by the police because the police thought that he was causing trouble. You know, the police thought that he was a petitioner. You know, how Chinese petitioners, you know, disgruntled workers, you know, who want to go to Tiananmen Square to petition, you know, for their whatever, you know. So he was arrested by the police because they thought he was with the petitioners, but he wasn't. But what happened was he was showing sympathy towards these people. You know, he stepped up and asked the police to be nicer to these poor men who were there seeking justice. And so the police arrested him. And then after much, you know, investigation, they realized he wasn't with them. They released him. And then. But at school, the school dispelled him, discharged him. I mean, it was Tsinghua University. It was not a random school. It's one of the best schools in China. The school discharged him on grounds that he got into trouble. He showed sympathy towards someone who's. He's not supposed to help. Wow, just like that. All you did is just say, hey, tell the police, hey, you know, you shouldn't mistreat this old man, you know? Come on. That's all he did in public. The school just discharged him. The guy committed suicide. The young man commits. Yeah, he jumped. He's such a patriotic young man, because think about it, he spent eight years in the West. He has been. He has accepted Western values, right? He spoke up when he saw injustice. All he did was tell the police to be nice to the man, and he was arrested. His school, the school immediately saw him as a troublemaker. Now, if he wouldn't be discharged if he didn't study in the west, his misbehavior plus his Western education was the problem. That combination is the problem. So you see how dangerous Western education can be. And of course, if this guy's father or mother is a big shot and he could call up his parents or grandparents and say, hey, help. I need help. And they could solve the problem for him. But he's probably an ordinary person. He committed suicide. It started a viral. It became a viral event because everyone was saying, well, what did he do wrong?

[Danny]

He was so committed to the CCP and the Ideology.

[Lei]

He studied Marxist works in the US Just so that he understand what communism is all about. And he vowed to serve his country as soon as he graduated here and returned to China. Look what happened to him.

[Danny]

I gotta take a quick restroom break. We'll be right back, folks.

[Lei]

So I have two friends who. There was, I think it was during the SARS break outbreak. Remember back when there was a SARS outbreak?

[Danny]

Yeah. What year was that?

[Lei]

2003. Okay, 2003.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

So there was a benefit concert held in the Chinese community to raise money for the, you know, for the, for the victims or the people who got sick. Okay. And two friends of mine bought tickets to attend the concert, but they were, they were not granted admission at the entrance. It was a Chinese community concert. It was organized by local Chinese organizations. You know, I mean, there's a student. I don't know, I. It was Chinese people active in the Chinese community.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

And so they organized the concert. Two friends of mine bought tickets to attend the concert, but they were denied entrance, you know, and they asked why. They said, well, because the Consul General from New York, Chinese China's Consul General, is also attending the event and you're not welcomed here. And they're like, why? It turned out that they said that you're Falun Gong.

[Danny]

You're who?

[Lei]

Falun Gong. It's a meditation practice. It's a mind and body practice that's being persecuted by the Chinese government. It's CCP's number one enemy.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

You know, but because of its popularity.

[Danny]

CCP is against meditation.

[Lei]

It's against meditation. It's against Falun Gong's principle of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. It's like yoga. I mean, they have five exercise, slow motion yoga type of exercises. But it's extremely popular in China because of its health benefits. Even the high ranking government officials practice it. So the CCP has been persecuting this meditation practice since 1999. And so when my friends went, they were denied entrance even though they bought tickets, you know, and they said, well, it's because you were Falun Gong. And then the.

[Danny]

So when you practice this meditation, do you like, register publicly that you're a part of this meditation group?

[Lei]

But they know, the CCP knows everything in the Chinese community.

[Danny]

Even, even if you are doing, practicing some workout routine in your own house in Massachusetts or wherever you live, they know what you're doing.

[Lei]

Yeah, they know what you're doing. They send people if they, they want to control everything. If you're a group outside its grip, then they, it's not good for them. They will send people saying, pretending that they want to learn the practice, with the purpose to gather information. How do you know? Right? Say, say you have a tennis club. Everyone there plays tennis. And somehow the CCP or the government wants to find out what you guys are doing. They send someone, another tennis player, to say, hey, you know, let me join the club. Of course you're going to welcome him or her. But that person's intention is to gather everyone's name, your contact information, find out what you're up to. So that's why they know everything. So these two friends of mine got denied entrance and things got ugly because they got everything on tape. My friends got everything on tape. They filmed the entire episode. So as someone who, who is very. My name, lei in Chinese means upright and honest. And to stay true to my name, I'm like, this is America. Why should the activity or event happening in America be subject to the opinion of a foreign communist government? Just because the consul general is here so that Americans. We're not allowed to attend a council, even though we bought tickets. So I filed. I helped my friends file a complaint with the message, whatever the, the discrimination. I mean, it was the, the first step to file a lawsuit. You have to file a complaint with the discrimination commission in, in our state.

[Danny]

But these were Chinese folks. Not letting your Chinese friends.

[Lei]

Chinese American. Yeah, it was taking place in Massachusetts.

[Danny]

So Chinese discriminating against Chinese.

[Lei]

Right? Right.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

It is, you know, I mean, you bought. It's a public event. It's a benefit concert.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

I bought ticket.

[Danny]

So in your complaint, what did you say?

[Lei]

I say this discrimination.

[Danny]

You said the Chinese are discriminating. Did you say, did you say why, though?

[Lei]

I said because of the ccp, because of the persecution.

[Danny]

And you explained the whole yoga practice thing.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

I said because of the CCP is persecuting the Chinese communist regime, is extending the persecution from China to the United States. They're forcing the Chinese American communities to follow their policy here. But that's illegal. You can't do that here. Right. And guess what? The opposition, they hired top. One of the top law firms in Boston working for them pro bono.

[Danny]

China did.

[Lei]

Guess who's helping them. Right. And here we are. I'm using my salary to help my friends, you know, so it was that really, that was an event that had a lasting impact on me. I. In the end, we couldn't fight them.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

You know, how, how that just shows you how much control and influence Beijing has in America over the Chinese American communities. And all these law firms are lining up with them because the Chinese will promise you with business opportunities in China clients, they could give you a large soe, state owned enterprises as a client for your law firm. They could give them so many things to these, these American institutions that I cannot. So to me at that, at that point, I know there's no justice. It's all about money.

[Danny]

Sure.

[Lei]

You know, so I don't know if that's tied to the spy. You know, I mean, it's been so long, so I, I don't even remember the time frame and all the details, but in hindsight I started to think, well, is that because that law, the legal case that I was involved in, I was trying to help my friends that I was send a spy nanny? I don't know. I don't know. But it's been too long, right?

[Danny]

Yeah. No, it's, it's pretty, a pretty crazy thought to imagine that all of the, the Chinese people that are living here in the United States who, who migrated here from China could be part of some sort of soft spy network or that especially if they have family that are in China so that China kind of has leverage over them. That's kind of scary.

[Lei]

It is. My mother has a, has a helper. You know, she's Chinese and I mean they have their WeChat. They use, you know how Chinese use WeChat. And so my mother sometimes finds some interesting content and want to share that with, with her helper. The helper said, no, no, no, if it's against the government, please don't send it to me because I still need to go to China. I cannot afford to lose my ability to visit my mom and sister in China. Please do not forward anything that's anti CCP to me. I'm thinking this is America. Both of you are Americans. That's just how much fear she has.

[Danny]

You know, there was a story that I read recently how all of the people that were being laid off and fired from the, the Doge thing that Elon was doing and government workers, China was hiring them. All the people that are being laid off by Elon with Dosh, China was, was somehow hiring them. Can you find the, the story with this, Steve? But it made headlines, so I would imagine that that operation failed because I don't think if they were trying to hire these people for any, any sort of strategic benefit, it would have made headlines other than the fact that they just wanted to like stir up some.

[Lei]

Controversy or I think all those Americans who made Doge so difficult is really helping China. I'm not saying that we should give them. You know, I think China sees right through that. Anytime Americans fight Americans, it creates an opportunity for the CCP to take advantage of. All CCP has to do is just wait until the American left fights with the American right to the point that you don't forgive each other and then the CCP comes in. And I think this is the perfect example of that.

[Danny]

Here's the. From Reuters Exclusive. Secretive Chinese network tries to lure fired federal workers. Research shows about a month ago or two months ago.

[Lei]

But these are not DOGE people. These are federal worker.

[Danny]

Well, that was part of Doge though. These are people that got fired.

[Lei]

Oh, fired.

[Danny]

By the Department of Government Efficiency. See? Network of companies operated by a secretive Chinese tech firm has been trying to recruit recently laid off US Government workers according to job ads. And a researcher who uncovered the campaign, Max Lesser, a senior analyst on emerging emerging threats with the Washington based think tank Foundations for Defense of Democracy, said some companies placing recruitment ads were part of a broader network of. Of fake consulting and headhunting firms targeting former government employees and AI researchers. That's pretty crazy.

[Lei]

Yeah. This is a free country, but over there everything is controlled, right? YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter or X are not accessible in China.

[Danny]

TikTok is, right?

[Lei]

TikTok has its Chinese ver. No, TikTok is not. TikTok is not accessible in China.

[Danny]

Really?

[Lei]

It's banned. They have Douyin, they have a Chinese version.

[Danny]

Okay. But it's just the same thing, but different name.

[Lei]

But there's. They're not linked, they're different platforms.

[Danny]

Oh, really?

[Lei]

Yeah. I mean, the backbone technology may be the same, but they're two different platforms. The algorithms, the, the censorship is different.

[Danny]

What is different about it?

[Lei]

You can access Tick Tock in China.

[Danny]

But is it the same company like this?

[Lei]

It's the same company. They have a different product for Chinese.

[Danny]

And what do you know? Have you seen it? What, what it looks like? Have you seen the douing? Is that what it's called?

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

What's it like?

[Lei]

I mean, it's just like a Chinese version of Tick Tock.

[Danny]

Are they just teaching kids like rocket science and advanced mathematics and trying to.

[Lei]

Think of all kinds of. It's like a social media app.

[Danny]

You know, I've heard that they like shut it off after a certain time and they only give you educational content.

[Lei]

Yeah, they, I, I don't know. I mean, the Chinese are more. Spend more time on social media than average Americans. Everything. Everything? Yeah, everything. WeChat, you know, WeChat is the super app that Elon Musk loves.

[Danny]

Yeah. Because it does everything, right.

[Lei]

It does everything thing. You basically live on WeChat. You pay your bills, you do your banking, you buy everything. I mean, all you need is WeChat. But I don't like that idea.

[Danny]

No.

[Lei]

Because whoever controls WeChat is too powerful. It has everyone's data. Right.

[Danny]

Financial data, everything.

[Lei]

Your per. Your entire life is transparent on that app.

[Danny]

Yeah. Elon's aspirations and his. His admiration of WeChat and some of the stuff that he's been doing with Doge is, was pointed out to us by this lady who we had in last week by the name of Catherine Fitz, who is. She's a. She was a official for the Bush administration in the 90s, hired by the Clinton administration, then put in by the Bush administration. She worked for hud, the Department of hud. And she's just a mathematical economic master wizard. And she was pointing out that some of the things that Elon is doing with X and X AI and also Palantir AI, and with Elon going into, like, the IRS and the Social Security and all this stuff, she has this. This wild hypothesis. I don't know how wild it is. It might be pretty accurate. But it's. The idea is that if you wanted to create some sort of a digital social credit score that was controlled by the US Government, where people's. All their financial data, their social data, their. So combined with X and AI and all this stuff and a. A stable coin, a digital currency, you could use AI to combine this all into one thing and create basically like a. An American version of WeChat. And she. What she was pointing out, very eloquent, eloquently, which I am butchering right now, was that essentially all of the puzzle pieces are there with what Elon is specifically trying to do.

[Lei]

That's a great idea. It will work as long as you don't have a power outage or Internet breakdown. What if we have a power outage like we've seen in Spain and Portugal. Right. A few weeks ago, we have a mass power outage. There's no Internet. Your life breaks down.

[Danny]

Right, People.

[Lei]

I saw Chinese people go hungry. They couldn't buy food when their cell phone died because everything was operated off on the cell phone during natural disasters. They can't buy food even though the food is right there. They have no paper money.

[Danny]

There's no paper money right now.

[Lei]

There's no paper money.

[Danny]

Everything's digital.

[Lei]

Almost everything is digital.

[Danny]

So you can't buy anything with cash.

[Lei]

In China you can, but people just don't like to do that because it's not convenient. It's because everything's on the cell phone. But when you have a power outage, your phone doesn't work.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

Or the, the cash register or the Internet based cash register doesn't work. When people, when merchants demand paper money, you have none. What are you gonna do?

[Danny]

How often does that happen? Do wide, wide scale power outages happen in China?

[Lei]

It has happened.

[Danny]

It happens here all the time. We have hurricanes here in Florida and just last year we probably went probably three, four weeks maybe with no power. Not in a row. But there was like two or three storms that knocked us out. And it turns into Mad Max down here. Yeah, people are like scrambling, trying to survive, you know, Meanwhile, it's not really that bad. We still have running water. You can get a generator and get power. But it's like, it really shows you how vulnerable we are when that happens.

[Lei]

But did you have Internet?

[Danny]

No.

[Lei]

No Internet.

[Danny]

No. I mean, we have, I have some friends who have the Elon's Internet thing, what's it called?

[Lei]

Starlink.

[Danny]

Starlink, yeah.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

So we had Starlink. Some of my friends had it. And we could go find Internet at various places, but. But for the, for the most part, no. And there was barely any cell phone service either. Because the cell towers were down.

[Lei]

Yep.

[Danny]

So it's almost hard, it's almost impossible to make phone calls and text messages don't go through.

[Lei]

I think we may go backward, I think we may go backward back to the 1990s.

[Danny]

What do you mean by that? How, how?

[Lei]

I think technology is going in a way that's not sustainable. And with the, all the geopolitical threats, you know, people are talking about World War Three, you know, the war in the Taiwan Strait, in South China Sea, in Europe. I mean, I think the next war is not necessarily a hot war, but it may take place over the Internet.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

If it's between China and the U.S. i think it's going to be over the Internet. It's going to be Internet war. And when that happens, the Internet will break down into several huge intranets. You know, there will be intranets, intranets. Okay, Right. So it will be geo. You know, the US the world will be not. It will, it will not be called World Wide Web, it will be regional web.

[Danny]

Right, right.

[Lei]

Because, you know, the US does not want to be connected with China. Because you want to disconnect when that happens. You want to disconnect. So then that defeats the purpose of having an Internet. It's not world worldwide web. So then what's the point? So that that will break down the Internet, you know.

[Danny]

Yeah, that would be, that would be a shock to civilization and society. If that was to happen, that would.

[Lei]

Just change the way people live and people will go back to the pre Internet or I mean Internet will exist but it will be limited, you know, back to the early 2000s or in the 1990s when there are Internet people have a website, you know, you could see things. But it's not like today everything is web based. No.

[Danny]

Do you think anything like that could happen?

[Lei]

Oh, I think it's very, it's very. I think we've been warned over and over again. It's just whether or not people pick up the signals.

[Danny]

Yeah. It's crazy when I was blown away when that story came out about how Huawei was manufacturing the equipment that was going on. The routers, the cell towers. The routers, I mean even the towers, the cell towers that were being having Huawei equipment installed that was within like, I don't know, a handful of miles from huge ICBM sites like ICBM silos where we store our nukes. So.

[Lei]

Yep.

[Danny]

I mean imagine if, if, if do you think China would ever let, would ever buy telecommunications equipment from the United States that they would install around military bases?

[Lei]

Only if they can make the, the devices or the equipment they will have to buy. I mean.

[Danny]

Yeah, yeah. But I could, I, I would, I would never imagine they would. I've heard that anything like that happen.

[Lei]

Some of the chips that they bought from, from America are also encoded, are also coated with, with, I don't know what you call that, you know, with spyware embedded in spyware. Yeah.

[Danny]

What kind of chips are they buying from America?

[Lei]

I don't, you know like hardware equipment that comes with certain electronic components that are hotwired, but there are also embed with spyware elements. Yeah.

[Danny]

Yeah. It's going to be really interesting to see what happens in the next, at least throughout till the end of this Trump presidency to see how all of these tariffs play out with this attempt to re industrialize America and get us off of China. Being so dependent on China for tech and for all of these other things. I mean I think one of the, because Trump was the tariffs are nuanced. Right. It wasn't just a broad blanket tariff. He's not putting tariffs on like things like iPhones or technology that we don't have the ability to create right now. He's only putting Tariffs on certain things. So I think like, we're going to start to see, I would imagine pretty soon here some of the economic effects of the tariffs and as far as like, supply of certain things in grocery stores or paper products, things like this becoming less available to us, I feel.

[Lei]

That the dust has not settled yet in the tariff war. I think.

[Danny]

No, not.

[Lei]

I think. I think it's. We need to give it a little bit more time to see the real impact of the tariff wars. I worry about the next few months. Months. I think there will be dramatic changes across the Pacific in the next few months precisely because of the power struggles in Jonan Hai. You know, as far as who will actually control China or which individual or individuals will actually, you know, be running China will be decided in the next few months.

[Danny]

You really think so?

[Lei]

I really think so.

[Danny]

You think something's going to happen with Xi Jinping?

[Lei]

Something is already happening. Happening. Something is happening.

[Danny]

But you don't think he's going to remain in power for much longer?

[Lei]

There are four possibilities. Number one is he remain a ceremonial title as a symbolic national leader, but he has no real power. That's probably the most benign situation. And the second is he will step down, but with no, no repercussion.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

He will just retire and make an.

[Danny]

Excuse for it or something due to health. Okay.

[Lei]

Number three is he will step down, but there will be repercussions. You know, he will be blamed for the problems that China is having. You know, there will be repercussions. Last one. This is not from me. People say he would die while in office if he makes everything too difficult. These are the. It's not entirely impossible he'll be assassinated. You think because he's health. He's not doing well, health wise, you know. Yeah, this, this whole, this whole downward. How do you say he started this descending. His power started to descend. I think it started from spring last year. We start to see when he lost the man who runs his military. I mean, he lost the man who runs the general office of the pla. You know, the person is the equivalent of like a chief admin officer in the military. When that man left in April last year, people started to notice his power. And then in July last year, supposedly he suffered. He had a major health episode. It was said that he basically passed out at a meeting. And now when that happened, it created a power vacuum. You know, in a totalitarian regime, you could consolidate power. You control everything. But there has to be a premise, there has to be a condition that is, you Never pass out. You have to be healthy and stay in control because everything is in your hand. You have no successor, you have no deputy. Right. You have no one to pass the baton to. So the underlying requirement is that you stay healthy in power 24 7.

[Danny]

Right. As soon as there's signs that that's going the other way or you're not maintaining your health, then the chickens are going to start coming home.

[Lei]

Exactly. You lose all of that. And that's what happened to him last July. He passed out. He had people say he suffered a stroke. He passed out.

[Danny]

I can't imagine who would like to report that.

[Lei]

Oh, it was in, at a meeting.

[Danny]

So it was public.

[Lei]

It was public.

[Danny]

There was like, I would imagine even if there was media at the meeting, they would say, don't you say a word about this to anybody.

[Lei]

Oh, no. What I heard is all the media were forced to leave their equipment on site. They could not take any equipment with them. And there were no, they were all state media, state control media, so they obey. There was no foreign media.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

And it was a meeting with the top hundreds of officials. So no one was allowed to say anything.

[Danny]

So how did it get out that he passed out?

[Lei]

The rumors were wild. It was just everywhere. Everyone was saying indirectly, you know, people were telling stories like, oh, at the board meeting, the big boss, the chairman, fainted and then. So they were using euphemism to hint that something happened to the big boss without naming names, without saying what it. But everyone knew it was all over the Internet last. And he disappeared for weeks and then he reappeared. When he reappeared, it was an event to welcome the visiting Vietnamese leader. And then all the media coverage were wide shots. There were no close up shots. It was all wide shots. And if there were close up shots, it was frontal. However, the Vietnamese media leaked it. They took a side shot of Xi Jinping shaking hands with their leader. And you could see that there was a patch of his in the back. A patch of his hair was removed, was shaved. So people immediately suspected that he underwent a surgery, a head surgery of some sort.

[Danny]

See, that's, that's the, the, the confusing part about trying to figure out what's going on because. Because what, what? How much of this is even American propaganda just trying to make China look weak, right?

[Lei]

Let alone the Chinese, American, American propaganda. American media is very much influenced by the cc, ccp. They're very pro ccp.

[Danny]

What.

[Lei]

That's what prompted me to do this program because I was upset watching how mainstream media.

[Danny]

Are we watching the same media yeah.

[Lei]

We, we watch American media. I mean it depends on who you watch. Like for example, New York Times is very pro ccp, pro Beijing. Did you notice that?

[Danny]

I have not noticed that.

[Lei]

Oh, the New York Times. I'll send you the picture.

[Danny]

I, I've noticed a shift over the last, God, I don't know, since probably the middle of the Biden administration.

[Lei]

Yeah, they started just to shift, it's.

[Danny]

Been starting to shift away from CCP to be more anti ccp.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

But I would agree with you before that it was very pro.

[Lei]

Very pro. Yeah.

[Danny]

Like, like I have friends who are very like pay a lot of attention to what's happening around the world and in China and other places. Places specifically China. And you know, they have to, these are people that do a lot of research with these native countries media outlets, like they actually will go and, and pull up some of the, the reporting that's coming out of China or out of Vietnam or out of surrounding countries and corroborate it with what's going on in the. Because the US Is nothing. It's all over the place. It's going in every which direction. It's chaos. But to, to be able to corroborate that and, and try to like look at different countries media outlets and compare it with the U. S. Media and see what they're talking about and try to figure out what the truth is. It's got to be a very difficult thing to do because all these countries deal with propaganda. They're all trying to push some sort of a narrative.

[Lei]

Every country, you're right, every country has propaganda. But no one is doing as sophisticated as the ccp. They're the, they're called the master of deceit.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

They can manipulate public opinion in a way that you don't even notice it. Right. I mean think about Charles. What's that guy Bieber, what's his name? Charles.

[Danny]

Charles Lieber.

[Lei]

Lieber. Charles Lieberman. And there was another case that came out. It was a fed. It was an employee or a director working for the Fed, the central bank or the.

[Danny]

Really?

[Lei]

Yeah. Who is in the same situation. He was approached by two Chinese students or visiting scholars and who invited him on an all expense paid trip to China and he went. I mean they were doing scholarly discussions with him. They even arrange, I mean there's also honey, honey trap, you know, I mean he eventually married a Chinese woman who's 30 years younger than him.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

And then he started, you know, leaking information to, to the Chinese. I don't know why I'm Talking about that. So I'm just saying the Chinese study their subjects so well. If they want to make. Want to change your. If they want to manipulate you, if they want to manipulate a group of you, they study you so well, know what you're interested in know. And then they reverse engineer everything and then so it happens so naturally that you don't even notice it. And that's how sophisticated Chinese propaganda is, you know?

[Danny]

Yeah. And it's got to be so much easier with. With AI and social media and these kinds of things. Right. Is because if people are spending a vast majority of their time living online.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

You can change.

[Lei]

I have a friend who is. Got into. Got into. You know, he was. She was. She got in. What do you call that? I know how to say it in Chinese, but it was a scam. Online financial scam.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

You meet someone online.

[Danny]

Oh, catfishing.

[Lei]

Yeah, catfishing. They built a whole community around her to make her believe that this is all real.

[Danny]

Yep.

[Lei]

Right. They built several community around her to make her like she was. Eventually, I think she was. They want her money. So she met this guy who was a great, very successful investor. And so eventually they convinced her. But they built a whole online social media community. Like 200 people talking about this investment idea.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

None of them are real. They all existed for her. So how could you, how could you not fall into that kind of trap? I'm saying that's just the idea. And this is just Chinese using the same principle, trying to, you know, take advantage of other Chinese. But it all came from the government who's the master of deceit, Right. You know, they want. If they want to change your viewpoint or change or manipulate you, they're going to build everything around you to make you believe what you see is real. Have you heard of the expression Stockholm syndrome? Yes, that's what it is.

[Danny]

Right?

[Lei]

Right. Therefore, I have a psychology friend, a psychologist friend, who said the Chinese all have Stockholm syndrome, more or less.

[Danny]

Oh, wow.

[Lei]

Right. I mean, the story is based on the 1973 hostage situation in Stockholm. Two, two men robbed a bank and held three women and one man in a bank vault for six, six days. At the end, none of the four hostages were willing to testify against their captors. You know, one woman actually got engaged to one of the captors and the other started raising money for her. I mean, for him. So it was a psychological condition. It developed under four conditions. One is the captor or the abuser have total control over the. The victims. Number two is you have no access to outside Information number three is you have lost hope. You have no hope about your future. And the last one is the aggressor or the captor conducts small acts of kindness, like, you know, there's a gun pointing at you. And then the next thing the person said. Are you cold?

[Danny]

Cold, Right.

[Lei]

You want some food?

[Danny]

Yeah. I mean, that you can see this is a part of the human psyche and it helps you understand why people are so susceptible to joining cults.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

That aren't necessarily good for them. Right. Like there's a. I'm sure you're familiar with Scientology.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah.

[Danny]

It's this. We're. The hub of it is not far away from here. And. And they. They are guilty of committing, you know, human atrocities and enslaving people to work for them, and they're willing to do it and have their whole family enslaved and disconnect from anyone who doesn't agree with Scientology completely cut them out of their lives to remain a part of this abusive group of people.

[Lei]

I think the ccp, whatever the CCP value is, is a cult. It's very cultish, you know, because if you disagree with the government, then your life is endangered.

[Danny]

Right, right, right.

[Lei]

That's cultish.

[Danny]

It's funny. It's. And. And you have a restricted access to the Internet and information around the world when you're there. It's very similar to Scientology. It's the same thing.

[Lei]

And then you cannot say anything that disagrees with the government. You'll be punished. That's very cultish. But I think again, in our modern life today, cult isn't. Cult is everywhere. You know, the obsession people have with celebrities, I think it's a little cultish.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

We're living in a cultish culture.

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

And our obsession with these devices. Isis.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

I mean, what would. I think it's cultish.

[Danny]

It's a really easy. And it's. Not only is it cultish, but it's a very easy way for the government to mind control people and to. To influence public discourse.

[Lei]

Exactly.

[Danny]

I mean, if you look at it, you would. If I was to. I mean, I couldn't imagine if I could get into. In inside the heads of the people that control the world or at least. At the very least, control the United States. Right. Because if you were in control of everything thing, you would want to have the level of control of a dictatorship or a ccp. Right. Democracy is if you're the leader and you control everything and. And you're in charge, you control all the money, you control all the weapons. You, psychologically, it is a fact that you want to, if you're a human being, you want to maintain that control and you want your kids to maintain that control after you. You don't want there to be a coup and to be ousted from your position, to lose what you have. That's why if you're a, you know that billionaires want to make more and more billions of dollars. They're never okay with just having their 1 billion. You want 2 billion, you want 3 billion, you want more control, you want more power. So if you are in control of an entire country, in a population of hundreds of millions of people, you, you want to build these things, these, these technologies like that go into phones that are working with AI and connected to all your social media, connected to your email, tracking your phone calls to where now you are slowly encroaching this soft digital control into people's lives. And before they know it, we are going to be in some sort of a version of the ccp.

[Lei]

We are confined in our digital prisons. We already are right by the fact that we're so attached to our digital devices. Right. If everything is digital, it's like if we have the equivalent of a WeChat, a super app that does everything to take care of our life, then we are in this digital prison.

[Danny]

It's. And it is a pr. I mean, not only is it like you, you described how like in China, your money, everything is comes through this device, right? But on top of that, you have all the. I don't know if it's like this in China, but it's definitely like this here where we have Instagram x Facebook, where we're getting this dopamine hit from scrolling through these photos or posting photos and liking photos and sharing memes or sharing tweets with people where it's just. We are quite literally addicted in every sense of the term because our, our dopamine feedback loop is tied directly to having these things in our phones 24 or in the, these devices in our hands. 247 so there is a huge incentive for, you know, not, I'm not trying to like, say there is some, you know, deep conspiracy for, you know, the tech elite to control the world. But all of the evidence is there. If you want to point to that hypothesis.

[Lei]

They can, they have the means and the technology to control if they want to, but it's also very dangerous. Think about it. I mean, CCP is one example for all those billionaires or the people who have the aspiration to control others. Just take a Look at CCP and Xi Jinping. I mean, they have the means and the technology, the digital surveillance apparatus to control everyone. But look at them. They're in a very dangerous, precarious situation, because like I said, unless you want to be invincible, you cannot blink for a second. Right? You can control everything, but you cannot blink. But you are human, after all. You have weaknesses. There are so many things you cannot control. I think that the danger of that is human try to play the role of God, and that's dangerous. I think ultimately that's. That's why they will fall. I can't speak for other individuals, but in the case of CCP is really playing the role of God because there's no religious freedom in China and they want everyone to worship the government. They think the government is this almighty entity that could take care of everyone, solve all problems, and the government is always correct. We never make mistakes. The CCP never for once admits its mistake publicly.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

So. But you're human. As human, we have. We're flawed, we make mistakes, we have regrets. You may as well accept that, because if you don't, it's dangerous.

[Danny]

Well, I mean, the U. S. Government is guilty, the same thing to some, to some degree, they're very much similar. And the. Speaking of playing God, I think China, what. Are you aware of the, The CRISPR babies that they're creating in China where they're trying to, like, genetically.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah.

[Danny]

Genetically alter dangerous DNA.

[Lei]

And the man who did that was not allowed? No, he. He got married. His wife. His. His. His wife was trying to join him in China, but she was denied visa, so he was upset, so he said that he was going to leave China. There's no, I mean, there are moral boundaries that you cannot cross in man's pursuit of technological advances.

[Danny]

Are there.

[Lei]

There should be like, for example, human genetic edits. Right? Because you don't know, because you don't understand the consequences, because you don't live long enough to understand the consequences to human beings after you change their genes. Because you don't see the next generation or the five generations from now what humans will become.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

So you cannot do that because it's irresponsible.

[Danny]

Right, well, but China did that.

[Lei]

That man learned the technology from the west and then went back to China and started experimenting that. There are also Chinese scholars or scientists developing drugs to induce cancer.

[Danny]

What?

[Lei]

Yeah, it was in Guangzhou. There was a young woman who, it became public, I think it was last summer, because she had cancer. But she was part of the team that dedicated to that research.

[Danny]

She had cancer.

[Lei]

She got cancer. A lot of them got cancer because they. It was a they. They. The. The research was to develop drugs that induce cancer for weapons. As weapons? Oh, they didn't say as weapon. But think, why do you need to have this? Why would you do that?

[Danny]

That. Right.

[Lei]

If that become a product, then you could kill someone without ever leaving any evidence.

[Danny]

What was their excuse for doing that? Do you know?

[Lei]

Does the CCP ever provide any excuse to. Well, maybe not.

[Danny]

Maybe excuse is the wrong word. What was their justification for. Did they explain why?

[Lei]

Just like the COVID virus. Why? Right.

[Danny]

Gain a function.

[Lei]

Right. Why?

[Danny]

Right. Like why. Yeah, why would you try to engineer a virus to make it more deadly badly?

[Lei]

Yeah, their excuse is, oh, we saw that we could find solutions to cure it. You know, by the same token, they say, well, we need to understand how cancer is induced so then we can find solution to cure it. You know, it's dangerous.

[Danny]

And how was. How did these people that were working in this lab, how did they contract the cancer? Do you know how. How they.

[Lei]

Well, they're researching certain chemicals.

[Danny]

Chemicals?

[Lei]

Yeah, they work. They're researching on certain chemicals that induce cancer and they got cancer themselves.

[Danny]

So they must have accidentally like ingested it or.

[Lei]

Or they got exposed.

[Danny]

Exposed to a chemical that would induce.

[Lei]

I mean, that's what they research.

[Danny]

That's crazy.

[Lei]

They're making chemicals that induce cancer. Let's put it this way, right? When you read research, you have to experiment different chemicals that induce cancer. So you get exposed to that because you experiment that.

[Danny]

Yeah, No, I mean, it makes sense. Totally. But I'm just. I was just curious to the. But why specifics?

[Lei]

There's so many. There's just so many dangerous experiments that are being conducted without moral. Because what communism does is it totally denies the existence of higher beings. You know, the communism are atheist.

[Danny]

Okay?

[Lei]

They are abs. They believe there's no existence of God or other beings.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

You know, they think everything is material and so they do not believe in the existence of spirits and all of that.

[Danny]

So do they. And this might be a really stupid question, but do they. They prosecute people for being religious.

[Lei]

Oh, yes. Yeah. There's no religious freedom in China. I mean, I just mentioned Falun Gong.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

You know, it's a spiritual practice based on the principles.

[Danny]

How do they. How do they come down on folks or prosecute people or punish people for practicing religion?

[Lei]

Well, for Christians, they. You have to pledge allegiance to the CCP first. So it's called patriotic church. And then the clergy are government officials. They take salaries from the government. So there's no separation of church and state. It's a joke. You know, you pledge allegiance to the. To the cc, to the party first before Jesus Christ. So that's the Christians. So that's why Xi Jinp.

[Danny]

Jesus Christ.

[Lei]

Yeah. So that's why there's the underground church. These are the people who truly do not pledge to underground, underground church.

[Danny]

Wow, that's cool.

[Lei]

Okay, and then. And then so. And then there are Falun Gong. Falun Gong is probably the most influential forces in China.

[Danny]

Is it similar to, like, Hinduism or.

[Lei]

It's a Buddhist practice? Yeah, it's mind and body practice. Because, see, in the east, religion in the west has very clear definition. Yes, there's ritual, there's temple. I mean, church. Right. There's a Bible. But religion in the east is a way of life. So for example, we always say, well, Confucius said this.

[Danny]

Karma.

[Lei]

Karma. Yeah. But not everyone believes that they're religious about Confucianism. So it's just a way of life. And the. And the purpose of religion, from our perspective, is to pursue wisdom. You know, it's like you want to be a. Become a wise man, you know, the purpose of religion is to achieve ultimate wisdom or enlightenment. That's the purpose of religion. So it's just a way of life. It's very spiritual and intellectual. Yeah, it's less ritualistic.

[Danny]

So I don't understand. Why wouldn't you encourage that if you wanted a stronger country?

[Lei]

Oh, no, no, no, no.

[Danny]

It's.

[Lei]

It's. That's why Falun Gong has been severely persecuted by the ccp. Because it clashes with communist ideology. Because. Yeah, because communism.

[Danny]

Right. No, I see. I can see. I can see. I can see that.

[Lei]

Right. So. So, so Falun Gong is tremendous popular. The reason the CCP persecutes Falun Gong is because at one point, they estimate that there were 770 to 100 million people in China practicing Falun Gong. And that number exceeded the 60 million Communist Party members at the time. You know, in China, nothing was allowed to be bigger than the party. So the former CCP leader got furious. It decides to outlaw the practice. And they send people. You say, how they persecute these people. They force you to give up. If you're a student, you want to go to school, or you. Or not, you give up the practice or you'll be kicked out. If you work for the government, you want your job or not? And then the worst is they created all these labor camps and then they Murdered these people for their organs. Because you've heard of that. Because you know, these people, they don't smoke, they don't drink, they meditate, so they're very healthy. So their organs are favored by these organ seekers. So the government built huge labor camps to house these people and then murder them for their organs and sold for a huge profit. You know, and there are mounting evidence on that. This is. Some countries even passed law to prevent. To prevent its citizens from going to China to seek organ transplant surgeries. I remember Israel is one such country and maybe Australia.

[Danny]

Because people are being murdered for their organs.

[Lei]

People are being murdered for their organs because the wait time here is. What if there's a waiting list? You have to wait years to get a matched donor or organ. And you can't predict that because you can't predict casualties. Right? Because you don't know. Usually an accident happen and then there's match. You never know when these surgeries would take place. In China, you could find a match in two weeks. I have a friend, I have a friend who lives in my neighborhood, he had liver cancer. He went back to China, got it done. He did two organ transplant surgeries. The first time I didn't match so well, and he got second. Both took place within matters of weeks. So the question is, mathematically it's impossible to find a match within weeks because you can't predict casualty. The only explanation is there's a livestock waiting to match you.

[Danny]

Right? Right.

[Lei]

You know, this is the biggest scandal of our time, the biggest atrocities of our time. Because people are being persecuted and then the government monetized the persecution.

[Danny]

Right?

[Lei]

This is evil beyond.

[Danny]

No, yeah.

[Lei]

You know, and then now they have. Because they have mass data. They have. Because now they rolled out to the entire population. It's not just limited to Falun Gong people. They started this practice with Falun Gong and now they've extended that to the entire population. So you have so many parents losing their children, you know, teenager children or college, you know, children in colleges, they're never found. Because these children, because the government has access to everyone's biodata. You know, in China, the physicals are conducted at school. The schools does everyone's physicals. So the schools technically have your biodata and the schools are government affiliates. The government has everyone's biodata. They could find a match instantaneously within their mass population. And if someone is willing to pay. And of course they do research if you are a child of a government official or if you come from an influential family. Or if you have family members living in the west, they probably will spare you because they know your.

[Danny]

They know your blood type. They know the blood types of all the kids across all the schools. Little Jimmy and that school over there.

[Lei]

But then they pick the ones come from poor families.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

You know, because they don't pick the ones that have money or have influences because it could be a can of worms for them to deal with afterwards.

[Danny]

Of course.

[Lei]

But if they come from poor families, they know a few million yuan will shut you up. And that has been happening on a large scale. You know, there's so many families, I saw videos where parents holding pictures of their missing children line up the whole street, you know, they can't find them. Now China has this digital surveillance that could find. Could catch a thief within a matter of seconds. They have the best facial recognition technology in the world. Even when you wear a mask, they could find you.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

Why so many children cannot be found? Not just children, young men and women too, you know. So it started with Falun Gong because that was prisoners, a group of prisoners of conscience that are massive. Right. And now it's extended. It becomes a multi billion, I don't know, billion dollar business. And the government is making money by murdering people, innocent people. But that's what I made programs saying that the west will be. Some western companies will be held accountable because all these devices, medical devices, medical solutions, drugs.

[Danny]

23Andme.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Are you familiar with the scandal with 23andMe? Harvesting DNA data from people and taking the database and selling it?

[Lei]

Yeah. So Western pharma provides or provide the devices and then the medical solutions needed for the surgery. They knew how their products are being used in China. If they stop selling these products to China, China cannot perform that many murders.

[Danny]

Organ transplant, what types of devices are you talking about specifically?

[Lei]

You know, like medical devices to preserve the organs.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Or medical solutions to preserve the organs.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

It.

[Danny]

You need, you need like chemicals to, to. To preserve them for a long enough time so they can stay viable for a trans.

[Lei]

Or drugs that you. That, that they need to anti suppress.

[Danny]

Like really China relies on us for that kind of stuff?

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

I thought it was the other way around.

[Lei]

No, no, no, no. Yeah, the drugs that, that, that you take after the surgery to make sure that your body does not reject the organ. All these are imported from Western farmers.

[Danny]

Wow. Yeah, I had no idea.

[Lei]

Yeah, there's a list. There's an organization dedicated to stopping the organ transplants. Forest organ harvesting in China.

[Danny]

You've alluded to how insanely Advanced. Their facial recognition systems are there. And I'm sure that is integrated with AI and monitored by law enforcement and the government to track anything. First of all, what is the crime rate in China? If they're tracking and their punishment is so severe and they can find anybody for doing anything basically anywhere, I would imagine there wouldn't be much of a crime rate, number one, right?

[Lei]

No, the crime rate is high. It is because people are unhappy. Because the justice. There's no, the legal system does not do justice for people. So people will seek justice. People seek revenge on their own, you know.

[Danny]

But no, I assume not many people get away with crimes.

[Lei]

People don't care.

[Danny]

They don't care.

[Lei]

They don't care.

[Danny]

And what about as far as like the, the social credit system goes there? Can you like, have you ever. Obviously you don't. China.

[Lei]

I don't live in China.

[Danny]

You're not under that. But you know, people who do. What is your, like, how does it work specifically? Do you know?

[Lei]

I. Well, like, say if you, if your dad or if, if your child, let's say your dad. Okay. Made an inappropriate comment on social media. On social media against Xi Jinping.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Okay. They could use that against you to say when you're looking for a job, let's say they're going to look up all the records of your family members to say your dad is a problem.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

You know, you know he's a problem for you. We can't hire you because your dad has very low score. You know, stuff like that, Right? Yeah.

[Danny]

So it's mainly tracking how people interact with other people on social media platforms and like dissident type behavior and controlling.

[Lei]

People economically to shut you up. To shut people up.

[Danny]

To shut. Right. To incentivize people to not, not say anything.

[Lei]

So as a result. But people are smart, so they come up with convoluted ways to make comments without sounding like it. So that's today's Chinese culture. They have created so many indirect ways or means to say certain things without. To kind of to outsmart the AI.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

Okay, interesting. But once it becomes too popular, then the government will flag that. That becomes a sensitive word. So they have like a huge list of. They have a huge library of sensitive keywords for the AI to learn. Okay. To a point that, you know, like there are hundreds of variations, hundreds of variations of Xi Jinping's name that the AI has been trained on.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

Because people could be complaining about him without saying his name.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

You know, so they, they flag all these possible, possible words that could. That could mean, you know, or words that could possibly mean his name.

[Danny]

Right?

[Lei]

Yeah. So it becomes to a point that you can't say anything thing. If this happens, you know what? The AI will break down. When this happens incessantly. The AI will either become stupid, totally stupid, or useless because you can't say this or if they say this, you know, like, they, you can't say, people have called him pigs. People have called him 200 pounds. People have called him like think neck bottle.

[Danny]

Think neck bottle.

[Lei]

Yeah, like a flower vase. A thin neck.

[Danny]

Thick neck.

[Lei]

Not thick neck.

[Danny]

Oh, thin.

[Lei]

Yeah, thin neck. His name, Xi Jinping, literally means a thin neck bottle.

[Danny]

Oh, really?

[Lei]

Yeah. So anytime you say, well, I bought a thin neck bottle, flags, it got flagged.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

You know, there's so many variations. So what are you gonna do with it? With a. The AI is gonna flag everything. When that happens, it's meaningless. You may as well let everyone say everything, you know.

[Danny]

Right? Yeah. It comes to a point where.

[Lei]

Yeah, it defeats the purpose.

[Danny]

Yes, yes, totally. Where there's. There's no more. It's basically flagged so many. Because you've created so many different variations of his name. Right. It's like, eventually it would get to a point where there's like, what's left? There's like no words left to use. We're gonna make it ban every single word and flag everybody. And it's going to become unmanageable from the government's perspective. Right.

[Lei]

So that's what. What's been happening.

[Danny]

And they can control money. Right. Where you, where you can spend your money. Like, like if you're driving a car, you won't be able to get gas in certain places if you are banned from a certain area. So like, they, they can turn off your money in certain districts. So you can only travel within. Like on. If you say, if you're on house arrest, for example, Right. You can only go to like, work and back.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

And you're not allowed to spend money anywhere outside of that.

[Lei]

Right. With bad social scoring, you're not allowed to leave certain areas. Right. You're. You. You're confined to that area. So if you go beyond that, then your digital devices will. Will not work. Like, you cannot buy tickets or you cannot get on public transportation, or your banking will shut down when you go beyond that boundary.

[Danny]

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock between two factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN. You try to be in control of how your info is protected, but many other places also have it and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off. Terms apply. So do you know people that have dealt with this? People?

[Lei]

I know I don't because I have very minimal contact with people inside China.

[Danny]

Okay, so I don't know.

[Lei]

But, but allegedly. But I, But I read reports of people, you know, running to that, that. And, and now with the banking, with the financial difficulties, they, they limit the amount of money you can take out from your bank. Like, if you want to take out certain amount of money they want you to provide, they don't tell you you cannot take money. They just make it so difficult that you may, that you may end up just giving up.

[Danny]

That. That's, you know, I've dealt with that here too.

[Lei]

Really?

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

It's happening in this country too.

[Danny]

Yes, it is. Yeah. I was recently trying to take a, a decent, a decent sum of money out of one of my bank account with one of the top banks in. Based in New York to trans. Transfer it to crypto. And it took me the better part of two months to make it to get the wire to go through because they were making me go through. And, and their excuse is it's. They're trying to combat fraud. There's so much fraud that happens with, you know, which is legitimate. There's a ton of crypto fraud that happens where they convince people to give us a hundred thousand dollars for this, whatever it is, make sure. They want to make sure people know what they're doing and they're not being scammed for tons of money. So after going through this process like 10 times and them asking me all these questions like, what your, you know, what was the color of your first car? And oh, you got that answer wrong. And are you sure that. What's the name of the website you're sending this money to? Who told you about cryptocurrency in the first place? You know, all these crazy, obscure things. And then, you know, it took two months. I had to, I had to go. I had to drive to, like, my local bank probably four or five times to tell them, explain to them what was happening and why I couldn't get through this. And they were like, we don't know why they're not gonna let you do it. I don't know. I don't know what else to do. And I was like, I was like that close from pulling all of my money out of that bank and going to, like, another local bank. And I'm probably still going to do that, to be honest. But it's, you know, that's a problem that scared the. The out of me. It is how difficult that was.

[Lei]

Banking is becoming more and more difficult. Do not. My advice to people is do not use face id. Because I saw that, you know, in China, you have to use your face ID to access your bank.

[Danny]

You have to, you have to do. Can you access your bank through like a mobile app?

[Lei]

Yes, but, but the passwords don't do it. You have to use your face.

[Danny]

Wow. So you're not allowed to have typed in passwords.

[Lei]

You are allowed, but you still have to use your face. You can use whatever password you want. But they, but like, face ID is mandatory. You know, there are so many stories that I read that older people that are sick in their. They're dying and they ask the children or family members to take money. They can't. They can. The family cannot take money. And they have to get their face because.

[Danny]

And they're dead.

[Lei]

They're not dead, but some branch require the person, like in person.

[Danny]

Oh.

[Lei]

So they carry their elderly parents from the hospital to the bank. Branch, branch to take money out. And one woman died in the branch.

[Danny]

Oh, yeah.

[Lei]

And sometimes, you know, when, when they have a deceased parent, they have to use. They can't do the face recognition because their eyes are closed.

[Danny]

Right. What if they're dead? Then, yeah.

[Lei]

Yeah. Then what?

[Danny]

The government gets all the money.

[Lei]

Yeah. They can't, you know, so facial recognition is just a. I've seen that, and sometimes I've seen my family members using that. You know, sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it tells you you're not. You know, I'm like, this is ridiculous. It's the same person.

[Danny]

Right?

[Lei]

But if you have a different look or whatever, they think it's not you. They just tells you, sorry, you can't access your bank account today. And you're like, huh, I'm me. And there's nothing you can do. You just have to wait now. It could be that the bank just decides that no more. No more money taken out today. We've reached the limit. We've reached the threshold for the bank. It could be that. It could be, you know, the bank policy, internal policy for the day. It has nothing to do with your face.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

But it make you feel like somehow the app doesn't recognize your face today, you know, And So I, When I saw that, I'm like, no, I'll never. Do not give your face ID away.

[Danny]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's, it's just so convenient because.

[Lei]

It can be replicated with AI and all these technology. I think it can be replicated. Right. And that's scary.

[Danny]

Yeah, it is. It is crazy. You know, if they're. I don't think there would ever be. I agree with you that I, I don't. I don't think there would be any kind of like interstate conflict or like a hot war between the US and, And China. But it, it, you know, if there was something, it would be something digitally. And I think that the US has become well aware of that, which is why it just seems like to me, we are doing everything we can here to copy the tactics of the CCC in terms of just control or subversive control. Not overt. Right. We try to pretend that we're like a. We want to maintain a democracy. Everything is free. Free speech. You know, you have the privacy and no one's spying on you. But they're like, there. They don't have to lie about it here. We have to paint this picture that we are not. I think we are not communist.

[Lei]

Yeah. I think it's. Regardless of which government, and I don't think it's naturally, you know, the left or the right, either one will go down this trend because. Because of the digital technology. The digital technology is pushing the government to do that, you know, with us. So regardless which. Who is in. In the White House, it's. We're going down this trend regardless.

[Danny]

Yes. It's the. It's just money. It's just money. And then they follow control. Yeah. Yep.

[Lei]

You know, and, and the technology provides. Provides them with the tools to do that, and it's impossible for them not to use it. Let's put it this way. And everyone does that under the premise that it's convenience. It's convenient.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

But you trade your freedom or your privacy with convenience.

[Danny]

Yes. Yes. You trade and you trade freedom for security.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Wow. This has been a crazy talk.

[Lei]

Really. We're all over the place.

[Danny]

We are. There's just so much to talk about. Is there anything, Is there anything that we haven't covered that you think we should talk about?

[Lei]

I don't know. No, I don't know.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

Do you think we've.

[Danny]

I think we've covered a lot. This has been. I've really learned a lot today. This has been a fascinating.

[Lei]

Anything you want to ask me? Me?

[Danny]

No, I Think. I think. I think we've covered a ton. This has been. This has been super fun. I appreciate you coming.

[Lei]

Yeah. I would rather make this a two way dialogue, you know, like, then I'm.

[Danny]

Happy I'm the first person that you've been able to talk to in English for less. Go. I'm happy to be able to break the streak.

[Lei]

Well, thank you for giving me back the ability to talk to a. A real person in English for hours.

[Danny]

Yes. Yes.

[Lei]

I haven't. Haven't been able to do that for years. Ever since COVID Really?

[Danny]

You don't get. You don't go out much.

[Lei]

Well, I've been at home doing. Working on my YouTube for the. For the past, what, four years? Have no time to go anywhere.

[Danny]

You're making that much YouTube videos? You're spending that much time making videos.

[Lei]

Well, you need to spend time doing research. Yeah. And I have a second channel on culture stuff. It's too much to do the CCP stuff every day. It's unhealthy. So I'm home.

[Danny]

Yes, it is. It is unhealthy to be focused on one thing incessantly for days and for years and non stop. Not. It's. That's. That's the thing about this podcast is like a lot of. A lot of people that will dedicate all of their time and all of their content to one specific topic. And I would lose my mind if I had to do that. Like, I like to diversify it. So that's good. I'm glad you're doing that.

[Lei]

Okay. All right. So is this.

[Danny]

So you talk more about culture on your other channel? Channel?

[Lei]

I have another channel called Lays Looking Class I started. Beginning of this year, I want to talk about Chinese culture, you know?

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

I talk about UFO feng shui. I just did a program on the feng shui of the White House.

[Danny]

The what?

[Lei]

Feng shui.

[Danny]

Feng shui.

[Lei]

Yeah, I did a program on the.

[Danny]

Interesting.

[Lei]

You should check it out. The feng shui of the White House. It's very interesting.

[Danny]

Please elaborate.

[Lei]

Elaborate. Well, if you ask me, does the White House have good feng shui or bad feng shui? I would say it's not good or bad in the traditional sense, but it's good in an American way. Okay, so the White House has very American feng shui, but it has its own problems.

[Danny]

When you say feng shui, can you define that.

[Lei]

Literally? It means wind and water.

[Danny]

Wind and water.

[Lei]

Yes.

[Danny]

Okay. Completely wrong.

[Lei]

You've heard of feng shui before, have you? No.

[Danny]

Feng shui.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

Yeah. But I don't know if I know the precise definition of it. I always thought feng shui was, like, style. Is that not what it is, Steve? I thought it was like. Yeah. Like a symbiosis of things working together. Okay.

[Lei]

Metaphysical ambiance of your setting.

[Danny]

Okay. Yeah.

[Lei]

You know that if it aligns with certain celestial. You know, like a favorite favorable feng shui condition. Meaning that your setup of your home or your office.

[Danny]

Right, yes.

[Lei]

Is. Is in alignment with certain celestial condition. Or.

[Danny]

Celestial.

[Lei]

Celestial, yeah. Or. Or supernatural conditions.

[Danny]

Oh, wow.

[Lei]

Metaphysical. You know.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

Because the essence of Chinese culture is all about the invisible. The Chinese believe traditionally that the invisible, the intouchable, are the dao, whereas the touch, the. The visible, the tangible are only a container. So the ultimate Chinese wisdom is to pursue the invisible, the intangible. That's the dao. That's the way that governs the universe. Okay. So they always look at the intangible, invisible, guiding rules that dictate human affairs or human conditions. That's. That's a Chinese philosophy or a part of Chinese culture.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

And feng shui is just a very small branch of that that deals with terrestrial alignment, shall we say, or topology. Is there a word?

[Danny]

Sure.

[Lei]

Topology, sure.

[Danny]

Like. Like material objects.

[Lei]

Yeah. Yeah. So.

[Danny]

So they believe in, like, spirits and ghosts.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah. Divination. Astrology. Yeah. Xi Jinping. Oh, is our favorite subject. Xi Jinping is very superstitious. He believes in the prophecies about him. There are several prophecies left from Chinese history about Xi Jinping, and he's greatly impacted by those. And there was one about a warrior with a bow. A warrior with a bow entering the palace, ambushing, you know, ambushing near the palace. It was a Tang Dynasty prophecy. Nobody knew what it meant until the past year. Because the man who is now effectively control the Chinese military, Zhang Youxia, the second in command in the pla. The first vice chairman of the Chinese military cmc. His name literally means the warrior with a bow, the warrior with a sword. And his name, Zhang La, has a bow in it. So, yeah. So it's playing out in front of our eyes. And Xi Jinping believes in this kind of stuff. In fact, all CCP leaders believe in that. You know, Mao Zedong never went to a place in China called Luoyang because it literally means falling sun. Mao Zedong saw himself as a son, as the. The sun. He never went to the place called Luoyang. Falling sun. And then former CCP leader Jiang Zemin. His last name is Jiang. He never went to a place that's called. Called Zheng Jiang, meaning stifling Jiang or striking Jiang. He never went to that place. They're all very superstitious.

[Danny]

Are they all really into astrology?

[Lei]

It's part of our culture. So they all believe, even though they're declared atheist, but they're more superstitious than anyone else.

[Danny]

Wow, that's fascinating.

[Lei]

They're into fortune telling, all of that.

[Danny]

Really?

[Lei]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Danny]

They get like their palms red and things like this.

[Lei]

Yeah, yeah. They even use people with supernatural abilities, like, you know, to. As their guide, you know, advisors on the side to figure out what to do. When should I do this? You know, who should I trust?

[Danny]

Yeah, that's really interesting. I had a gentleman on here the other day, Hamilton Morris was telling me this crazy story about how during the Reagan administration, Nancy Reagan, she had an astrologer who was also the astrologer for Ronald Reagan. And he was advising Nancy Reagan that she needed some sort of purpose in the White House and that the alignment of certain planets and stars was telling him that she needed to lead this new crusade for America to. To end drugs. And this is what created the war on drugs. It was an astrologer who told Nancy Reagan that the star alignment was telling him that they needed to start this war on drugs in America.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

And they even had astrology computers. Like, literally they were called. They called them CIA astrology computers that. I don't know how the hell they worked, but just the name alone is insane.

[Lei]

I'm not surprised that the CIA use supernormal abilities to. To help them advance their cause. I mean, the Chinese intelligence definitely use that, you know, people with supernormal abilities with, you know, clairvoyance. What do you call that? Telepathy.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

Or telekinesis.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Lei]

And all these abilities to, to see certain things. I mean, it's. It's part of our culture. Yeah. I made a video about the. The palace in the world with the worst feng shui. You should watch that, because I'm trying to bring a scientific approach to these superstitious topics. You know, I'm trying to bridge the two. And then if you look at the presidential palace of South Korea, it's ominous. It has the worst feng shui. I made a video about that. You should check it out.

[Danny]

Okay.

[Lei]

You know, it make you wonder.

[Danny]

So something about the inside of it, the way things are laid out. They.

[Lei]

They say that the place. Well, the, the. The. The place that. That they use as the president, it's called the Blue House, you know, and they call their Presidential residence, the Blue House. But it used to be, it used to be a rancher in the backyard of the royal palace. You know, it's not fit. It's not fit. Feng shui wise to be used as the presidential palace has bad feng shui. It's just not. Yeah. Not very. Just not a good place.

[Danny]

Right. Wow, that's really interesting.

[Lei]

Yeah. They have, I mean, every Korean president, were they either assassinated or died of unnatural causes or impeached or. I mean, there were only one. That was the previous. I mean, look at the current one. He was impeached. Right. Every one of them. I think there was only one exception. I mean, it defies logic. You can't explain why so many South Korean presidents had so much misfortune. It's a democratic country.

[Danny]

Yeah. That is bizarre.

[Lei]

Yeah.

[Danny]

There's got to be something to it. There's definitely got. It's just so, I mean, it's definitely stigmatized here in the U.S. i mean, the problem is there's so many charlatans here that, you know, there's, there's the pro. The problem is there's no way to like scientifically measure any of that stuff. Right. And it's, it, like it may be a, a very important, important historical part of Chinese culture. It's, it's pretty much the opposite here.

[Lei]

I think the approach to science is different. Chinese traditional, Chinese approach to science is fundamentally different from Western approach to science. You, the Western, the modern approach to science is fact based. Right. Whereas the Chinese is, is the opposite. We, we went after the invisible, the intangible. We think that the invisible, the intangible governs like for example, Chinese medicine. Right. Chinese medicine deals with health issues before illnesses strike. Okay. So if you go see a Chinese, you know, acupuncture, I don't know if you have.

[Danny]

I've had acupuncture.

[Lei]

Acupuncture. Right. You know, I mean, they talk about acupoints, they talk about the imbalances in your body. They're trying to bring everything into balance, but they try to bring harmony to your body before symptoms develop. By the time you have symptoms, it's already too late. By the time a tumor grows or something fractured, you need Western medicine to fix you. But the Chinese medicine tried to prevent that from happening, try to prevent tumors from growing because they could detect the imbalances, the issues, the underlying issues that are in your body, but those are invisible because you can't see any physical symptoms yet.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

That's what they address.

[Danny]

Sorry, continue.

[Lei]

And so the Chinese traditional Chinese medicine believe that everybody, you know, we live, we have to coexist with ailments. If you're trying to just get rid of them, it's not. It's counterproductive. Whereas Western medicine just believe, oh, let's do surgery, let's cut it out. Right. Let's remove the bad part.

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

That's not the concept of Chinese medicine. It's about coexistence. You know, how do you coexist with the bad elements in your body? And the answer is if you have. Okay, so here's the analogy. It's inappropriate analogy. So we live in a society where there are terrorists, right?

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

So if you try to get rid of the terrorists, they may backfire. So the idea is, how do we coexist with them? Let's develop an environment that's so benign that they don't do anything back bad. As long as the terrorists do not do anything bad, we can coexist. But the key to that is you have to keep the terrorists occupied. If they start thinking about starting a family, make more money, or if we make our environment so benign, so good that they just don't want to do anything bad, then we're successful. We could coexist, but there are still terrorists. As long as they don't do bad things, we can coexist. The same concept applies to traditional Chinese medicine. There are cancerous cells in our body. How do we make the cancerous cells stay benign or not further developed? So you want to improve the overall condition of your body. You want to bring positive energy to your body. If your body is imbued with positive energy, that it suppresses the cancerous cells. So that's the whole concept. So we can coexist. So why we all have cancerous cells? Some people, they grow into tumor, and other people, they're fine, they never have cancers. It's because their overall body condition is benign or is full of positive energy. And that's why meditation or these traditional health remedies come handy, because it's all about keep everything in balance, build a benign environment in your body.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

Keep everything in balance, harmonizes everything. Keep your body as positive, as benign, as harmonized as possible so that these bad elements do not act.

[Danny]

Is nobody dying of cancer and diseases in China?

[Lei]

No, no, that's not, you know, I mean, that's just. It's a concept. Of course.

[Danny]

Yeah. But I'm curious. I'm curious what the statistics are in China, China versus America.

[Lei]

China has very high incidence of cancer.

[Danny]

Of deaths from cancer.

[Lei]

But that's not because of. That's because the pollution. That's another subject. Okay, so for another day, the pollution, the water is terribly polluted, right? The air is polluted. I mean, and then the food quality is terrible. I mean, there's just the whole, whole list of other issues that have become health hazard in China.

[Danny]

Right?

[Lei]

But the traditional.

[Danny]

There's not, there's not this, this negative feedback loop in health care. And like there is here where basically the way we treat it is just to make money, right? Where we have this, this system in America where it's the most convenient food and the most affordable food is the most unhealthy. That is forcing more people into the medical system, which is not designed to effectively treat people. It's designed to make money, do more surgeries, prescribe expensive drugs.

[Lei]

Right?

[Danny]

These kinds of things. It's not that the, the, the system that we have here is not designed to keep, really keep Americans healthy. It's to make money off of them.

[Lei]

It's not a health care system because it's, it's a disease treatment system. Right. Healthcare system is. You should prevent. You should keep people healthy. You should prevent people from becoming sick. That's health care.

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

Right. So. So the Western medicine or whatever we have in our system today doesn't do that. That. No, it doesn't prevent us. So that's why fortunately, I mean, we have the traditional Chinese medicine or the. At least the concept, you know, that that's available to us, that keep us healthy. So a lot of Chinese don't believe in the Western medicine.

[Danny]

So, so this would be a, an aspect of Chinese society that they're doing better than we are in America, their health care system, not in China.

[Lei]

I can't say that for China right now because it's very corrupt.

[Danny]

Let's. Steve, I want some stats on, on Chinese health care. Mortality rate, cancer rates, obesity. Compared to the US we probably.

[Lei]

Chinese probably do better in obesity. But cancer, Cancer is pretty bad. It's been very bad.

[Danny]

New cancer cases. China expects to have approximately 4.8 million new cancer cases, while the US is expected to have around 2.3 million. But is this population. The population is what in China, you ask me?

[Lei]

Officially, 1.4 billion.

[Danny]

Oh, so it's really 1 billion, right?

[Lei]

Definitely under 1 billion.

[Danny]

It's under 1 billion. But is it close to a billion? You think I close under, or is it far under?

[Lei]

Far under.

[Danny]

How far?

[Lei]

You are ready for the number?

[Danny]

Yes.

[Lei]

At one point, I projected under 400. Under 400 million. What? 500 million under 500 million.

[Danny]

Under 500 million. So you think that they have a very similar population to the United States? In China, Yes.

[Lei]

Wow. There's 1 billion people missing.

[Danny]

And this goes back to what we were saying in the beginning or earlier in the podcast with. With all of the fake IDs and all of this stuff being found out.

[Lei]

Yeah. There's possibly 1 billion people missing. It's not a demographic question, Danny, it's a mathematical question. Let me ask you. It takes a couple to have two children to replace themselves, right? Think about it.

[Danny]

Yes, yes.

[Lei]

If ever couple produces two children, your.

[Danny]

The population distinct level.

[Lei]

Right. So do you know how many children does every woman needs to have in her lifetime in order to triple its population in 50 years?

[Danny]

To triple its population in 50 years or you need to have what? Let me guess, I'm terrible at math.

[Lei]

I'll give you the answer because I ask. AI. It's a crazy mathematical. If a country needs to triple or grow its population by two and a half times, let's just say two and a half times over a span of 50 years, five kids, each woman. You're right. Each woman needs to give birth on average between four and a half times to five and a half children.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

Okay, Now, China grew its population officially from 1950. That's when the CCP took over to control. Okay. China's population in 1950 was about 500 million in the year 2000. Fifty years later, China's population was about 1 point to 4, 1.27 billion. Okay, so it grew two and a half times. Right, from 500 million to 1.27 billion. That's two and a half times over 50 years. Chinese women did not, on average have five children because of the one child policy. Yes, because of the Great Famine. Because the great Famine, tens of million people died because of Cultural Revolution. So China, you know, from one political movement and another, and then to almost four decades of single child policy. There's no way Chinese women had five kids. Actually, the average fertility rate for each woman was 1.7 for the 30 year from 1990 to 2020. Okay. Chinese average fertility rate is probably 2 from the 50 years. So it's a mathematical question. There's no way Chinese women gave birth to five kids from the time the CCP took control to year 2000. That's my argument, number one. So there's no way China could have reached 1.27 billion people by the year 2000.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

Okay.

[Danny]

And then why did they implement the one child policy in the first place?

[Lei]

They thought they have too many people.

[Danny]

Did they really think they had too many people?

[Lei]

I think they've, the country was on the brink of bankruptcy. They could not afford to raise that many people. Okay, and then the second question, that was a mathematical question. Anyone who's in statistics can calculate that. Second question is, it's a comparative study. India in 1990 had a population of 900 million, or about 900 million, which is only 200 million. Under China's population of 1.1 billion in 1990, 1990, there were only 200 million people. Apart from. Yes, within 20%. Okay, okay. Now over the next 30 years, China's fertility rate according to the government is 1.7, meaning every woman gives birth or gave birth to 1.7 kids. India's fertility rate is double. That is over 3. Okay, so how, 30 years later, so now we're in 2020, how could China still have more people than India?

[Danny]

Right. They wouldn't. India would pass them.

[Lei]

Mathematically, it's impossible. So I asked AI, how many people should China have, assuming their fertility rate is correct, in the year 2020? Right. AI gave me 800 million. 900 million.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

900 million. And then now the 1.7, 1.7 fertility rate was overstated. That's official number. So experts believe China's real fertility rate during the 30 year was 1.3.

[Danny]

Right. With the, with the, the famine issues, with the, over the, the pollution and then the single.

[Lei]

And then one child policy and the.

[Danny]

One child policy combined would be devastating. Birth rate.

[Lei]

Yeah. So the official. So if I applied the, the, the real fertility rate of 1.3, China's population in the year 2020 was only 700 million. 700 million.

[Danny]

Okay, that's wild.

[Lei]

It's a mathematical question.

[Danny]

And you think the government does not, is not aware of this or you think they have to be?

[Lei]

I think China's population never really reached 1.4 billion. In fact, it probably never reached 1 billion because how, how could you, you have 30. It takes a couple to have two children to, to keep the population flat.

[Danny]

Sure, exactly.

[Lei]

You have single child policy for three decades and more. How could you grow, how could your population grow so much? I mean, the whole world has been fooled. I mean, it's a mathematic, simple mathematical question.

[Danny]

Yeah. I would be curious to hear what, what the conventional answer would be to something like this. Right. Like how would somebody explain this away? Is this not being, is this question not being asked?

[Lei]

I don't know. I raised the question. Well, so that's one question. So how many People did China have before COVID Okay, my answer is about 800 million. Somewhere around 800 million million.

[Danny]

Steve, you got chatgpt handy.

[Lei]

Okay, and then the next question is, how many people died during the pandemic in China? In China, it's not the official 120,000. China's official Covid casualty is 120,000. Okay. That's less than the 1.2 million in the US we had. The worldwide casualty was 7 million. I think the US has the bulk of it, 1.2 million. No matter how you look at it, China's real death during the pandemic is in the hundreds of millions.

[Danny]

Really? Actually, what is the population split between elderly and young people?

[Lei]

I mean, it's older, the average age is old, it's 40 something. Yeah, but someone asked Grok, Grok 3 this question, a Chinese, and said, please tell me how many people, Please estimate how many people died during COVID in China. And Grok3 built a reasoning model, collected economic data, consumption data, and estimated that the number of population that got shed during the three year from 2020 to 2022 was between 150 million and 250 million.

[Danny]

And where did it pull this information from?

[Lei]

Official data.

[Danny]

Official data.

[Lei]

And that doesn't include the casualties that we continue to see from 2020 until now. People are still dying, you know, and I, I have, you know how many. The Chinese government has suspended the data on its funeral industry. It stopped publishing statistics on its funeral burial industry. And yet we've seen local governments building so many crematoriums and funeral homes. There was one province that I saw. Which one was that? I think maybe Shanxi. Was it Shanxi, but one of the provinces, it had, I think about 40. It was a population with I think maybe 30 million people. It was not a big province. It had about 40 or estimated to have under 50 crematoriums and funeral homes. They're now building 80 additional. So if you didn't have that kind of death, why would you double or triple?

[Danny]

Unless business was booming?

[Lei]

Right.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

So it's a mind boggling topic. I mean, I didn't feel good when I did my program on that because I could accept that China has 800 million people. But no matter how I look at it, if hundreds of millions of people died, that brings China's population from 800 million down to like 500 million or even lower.

[Danny]

What, what, I'm curious, what is the culture in China in regards to like the, the male female dynamic, More men than women? I mean, I don't Just mean like the distribution. I mean like the, the culture. Like here in America you have this incentive for women to enter the workplace and not necessarily bear children. It's kind of looked down upon. If you want to be a stay at home mom and raise children and do all this stuff, it's better to get in the work workplace and just establish economic power within your society. As a woman. Right. Let's boost up the woman. Is it like that in China or, or what is your view on, or what is your understanding?

[Lei]

I think Chinese women have, I mean, if they have a choice, they would rather be doing nothing. Stay at home, raising children as long as the husband, you know, makes good money. Yeah, I think they don't mind that at all. That's preferred lifestyle.

[Danny]

It is preferred. But is it, is it promoted that way? It's promoted, it's promoted.

[Lei]

It's promoted to find a sugar daddy.

[Danny]

Oh really? Promoted by who to do that?

[Lei]

Society in general. If a woman, you could find a husband, that's, that makes millions or billions that you don't have to work.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

It's, it's the best.

[Danny]

Right. But what I'm, what I'm like, like in America, it's, it's the, the narrative that's sort of like pushed by the mainstream media. It seems like there's this unnatural narrative to sort of push this ideology to where women need to enter the workplace, get out of the home, get out of the kitchen. That's, that's pushing females down and they need to get in the workplace and rise up. Don't, you know, you don't have to, to be having more children. This was like the feminist movement and all this was a huge part of this. And that seemed kind of like an unnatural thing. Right? And, and I'm wondering if that is, it's, if it's anywhere near that in China or if there's any sort of push within the, the government establishment or the media establishment within China to push anything similar to that. Or is it the opposite?

[Lei]

We went through that, we went through that ahead of you because during Mao's time, he said that he liberated Chinese women. During his time or even the early days of the reforms, all women worked. You know, when I was in China, I remember all, all the moms work, there's no housewives, there's no stay at home. So women were liberated by Chairman Mao.

[Danny]

Wow.

[Lei]

You have to work, you must work. So now China is going, is regressing from that. Now the Chinese woman to say, hey, you know, why, why do I have to work. If I have, if I could find a wealthy husband, then I don't. I want to stay at home.

[Danny]

Right.

[Lei]

So we went through that 50, I shouldn't say 50, maybe 40 years ago, when every woman worked, when women were glorified, when you have a job. But we're going away in the opposite direction now. Now. Interesting, because we didn't. Women didn't like that.

[Danny]

Right, right. I mean, it's not conducive to, to increasing your population.

[Lei]

It's not. I mean, a lot of women still work, you know, but it's just because for economic reason they have to support themselves.

[Danny]

They have to.

[Lei]

And if they're, if they don't, if they haven't find a husband, I mean, they have to work to support themselves.

[Danny]

Yeah. And it's not, I don't think it's good for, for child development for children to be raised by nannies. I think they need to be raised by their mothers. I think it's better, you know, than kind of like pushing your kid off. If a woman is constantly having to work 247 and not pay as much attention to their kids, wouldn't it be better generally for the mom to be spending all of their time with their children and focusing on creating good human beings to replenish society?

[Lei]

Are you accusing me for having a spy nanny for my.

[Danny]

Well, look, I mean, it's good to have a nanny, right? You need to have, you need, you need to have those breaks. And you can't just be around your kids 24 7. You'll drive yourself crazy. But like, people that are doing it 247 where they literally never see their kids because they have to work 24 7. Right. Wouldn't it be bad, Wouldn't you create a better human being if you were able to teach them your values and, and your, your morals and, and just raise them yourself? Because I mean, you see all of the worst people. There's this great YouTube channel called Soft White Underbelly. This is guy Mark Leita who's based in LA where he, he interviews like all the prostitutes and the drug addicts that are on skid row in la. And he was explaining to me, I was like, I mean, he, these are the, the worse off human beings that exist in, in, in America for sure. And he was saying the one common denominator between all these people is terrible parenting or no parents.

[Lei]

I think, yeah, I agree with you. I think people should raise their kids, not nannies. I, I think, yeah, the. You need to be responsible for your parent, you know, I mean, for your children. I see the difference. You know, actually, the kid, you know, becomes more. Even grandparents can do that. The Chinese want the grandparents to be the nanny now.

[Danny]

Right, right.

[Lei]

You know, but you see, the. Yeah, I. I saw that. I saw the influence on my. On my daughter. She became more difficult when the grandparents babysit. Babysit her.

[Danny]

Her. Right.

[Lei]

Well, when the nanny was with her.

[Danny]

I see that, too.

[Lei]

Yeah, you see that. So it doesn't work, you know, my child, I have to take care of her. Yeah. Yeah.

[Danny]

Well, Lei, thank you so much for your time. This has been a fantastic conversation.

[Lei]

You think so?

[Danny]

Oh, yeah.

[Lei]

Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to a live person.

[Danny]

My pleasure.

[Lei]

English.

[Danny]

My pleasure.

[Lei]

In four years.

[Danny]

Yes. Yes. We'll have to do it again. Okay, link. Tell people where they can find you on YouTube and any other. Or you have a website or anything.

[Lei]

Just, you know, share my YouTube channel.

[Danny]

Okay. What's it called?

[Lei]

Lays Real Talk.

[Danny]

Lays Real Talk. Oh, look.

[Lei]

And then Lace Looking Glass.

[Danny]

Yes. Fantastic work that you're doing. Working around the clock to produce this stuff.

[Lei]

Oh, yeah. Seven days a week.

[Danny]

I love it.

[Lei]

All right, all right, all right.

[Danny]

We'll link it all below. Thanks again.

[Lei]

Thank you.

[Danny]

All right, good night, everybody.